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Breeding and Developing 
The Trotter 




John Bradburn 



Breeding and 
Developing 

The Trotter 



By JOHN BRADBURN 

For Twenty-five Years Superintendent of Village Farm 
East Aurora. New York 



ILLUSTRATED 



Edited by Arthur C. Thomas 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

American Horse Breeder 



American Horse Breeder Publishing Company 

Boston, Massachusetts 

1906 



6 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
TwoCooies Received 

MAY 141906 

A Copy rig ht Entry 
r CLASS QT XXc, No, 

/ St J 7? 

' COPY B. ' 






Copyright, 1906 

By American Horse Breeder 
Publishing Company 



press OP 

MURRAY AND EMERY COMPANY 
BOSTON, MASS. 



PREFACE 

Breeders of trotting stock have for a long 
time felt the need of a reliable work on the proper 
selection of mares for brood purposes, giving in 
detail the care and treatment that they should 
receive in order to put them in the best possible 
condition to impart vigor to their offspring and 
also transmit to their foals their own superior 
qualities in the highest possible degree. They 
have wanted a work which will also give minute 
instructions in regard to the feed, exercise and 
care of stallions at all seasons of the year, par- 
ticularly just before and during the service season, 
and in addition to the above, will tell how to care 
for the foal and its dam from the time the young- 
ster is conceived until he or she is in fit condition 
to place in the hands of an expert trainer to be 
conditioned for the rich futurities. 

Every one interested in breeding trotting stock, 
and especially all those just entering upon the 
business, will admit that such a work, coming 
from a man who has had years of successful 
experience in the business and knows every 
detail of it thoroughly, must be of inestimable 
value. 

Very few men are qualified to furnish the 
matter for such a work. We have never yet 
seen a book of that kind, and do not know that 
one has yet been published that has come from 



PREFACE 

a man who has been instrumental in breeding 
extreme speed of the 2.10 and world's record- 
breaking sort. 

Judging by the successful experience in caring 
for the sires and dams of 2.10 performers, also 
in the care and management of the 2.10 per- 
formers themselves during the early period of 
their existence, there is no man living who is so 
competent to furnish the materials of a work of 
this kind as Mr. John Bradburn, who was the 
superintendent of the noted Village Farm estab- 
lishment from a period long before a 2.15 per- 
former was ever bred there until the dispersal 
sale of the Village Farm stock. 

At the earnest and persistent solicitation of 
many of his intimate friends, and also of many 
practical breeders who were not personally 
acquainted with him, but who knew him through 
the reputation that he had made as the successful 
manager of the renowned Village Farm establish- 
ment, Mr. Bradburn was finally persuaded to put 
on paper for the benefit of trotting-horse breeders 
the knowledge that he has gained in the breeding 
and care of choice race-winning trotting stock 
during those many years of experience. 

The information contained within these covers 
will be of great service to all who are breeding 
and raising or have the care and management of 
trotting stock or light-harness horses of any kind. 
It will be worth many times its cost to every one 
who owns a good brood-mare or stallion, because 
it is a book of valuable facts. 



PREFACE 

It may also be read with interest and profit by 
the proprietors and managers of the most exten- 
sive breeding establishments, men who have had 
years of experience in the business, as well as by 
those who breed and raise but one or two foals 
a year. To those who are about to establish 
farms devoted to the breeding of trotters, or are 
just starting in the business on a limited scale, it 
will prove of immense value. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 













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CONTENTS 

Pages 

Chapter One. Personal 1-20 

"Who Is He? " 

My First Horse 

My First Brood-Mare 

Jane Brown 

Pelham Tartar Jr. 

My First Stallion 

A Mare that Hambletonian did not Cover 

First Day on a Race-Track 

Three- Card Monte 

A Full-Fledged Farmer 

A Hotel Keeper and Public Trainer 

A Liveryman 

My First Race 

Roading It 

Ice Racing 

On to Buffalo 

" Derricked " 

Back to Buffalo 

Superintendent at Village Farm 

A Betting System 

Village Farm Graduates 

Ideal Stock Farm 

Chapter Two. The Village Farm Theory 

of Breeding 21-48 

"World's Greatest Trotting Nursery " 

Mr. Hamlin's First Mare 

Hamlin Patchen 

Mr. Hamlin's First Team 

Golddust 

Woful 

Mermaid and Dictator Maid 

Weeding Out 

Nettie Murphy 

Minnequa Maid 

Purchasing a Premier 

More Purchases 

Estabella 



CONTENTS 

Almont Jr. Pages 

Mambrino King 

" The Handsomest Horse in the World " 

Chimes 

Golden Gateway 

Rex Americus 

Athanio 

Direct Hal 

The First Catalogue 

" Mr. Hamlin's Theory of Breeding " 

The Brood-Mare's Importance 

Beauty and Speed 

Developed Sires 

A Challenge 

Selecting Brood-Mares 

A Prediction 

" The Passing of Village Farm " 

Chapter Three. Founding a Stock Farm 49-64 

Location 

Soil 

Water 

Size of Farm 

Acres of Land per Head 

The Track 

Rules for Laying Out Track 

The Cinder Track 

Paddocks 

Fencing 

Stables 

Main Barn 

Water in Paddock 

Brood-Mare Shed 

The Farm Superintendent 

Chapter Four. The Stallion 65-82 

Purchasing a Premier 
Over-Developed Sires 
Concrete Examples 
Almont Jr. 
Almonarch 
Natural Speed 
Blood Lines 
The Stallion's Sire 



CONTENTS 



The Stallion's Dam Pages 

The Stallion's Individuality 

My Ideal Stallion 

Trotter vs. Pacer 

Shall the Stallion be Raced? 

The Stud Season 

Care of Stallion 

Feeding 

Covering the Mare 

The Breeding Pen 

Trial Sheet and Stud Book 



Chapter Five. The Brood-Mare 83-100 

Best Way to Purchase Mares 

The Ideal Brood-Mare 

Pedigree 

Care 

Preparing for the Foal 

Care of Mare and Colt After Foaling 

Breeding the Mare 

Care of Mare and Colt in the Pasture 

Weaning the Colt 

Mare on Winter Diet 

Age at which to Breed 

Developed Mares 

Inbreeding 

Selecting a Mate 

First Impressions 

Importance of Natural Speed 



Chapter Six. The Weanling and Year- 
ling . . . 101-108 

Halter-Breaking 

Breaking to Bit 

Beside a Lead Pony 

Ground- Breaking 

Hooking to Cart 

Shoeing 

Developing Muscles and Speed 

" Dr. Green " 

A Futurity Candidate 

Feeding 

The Yearling 



CONTENTS 

Pages 

Chapter Seven. The Two- Year-Old and 

Older 109-1 14 

Winter Work 

Spring Work 

Summer Work 

Turning Over to a Trainer 

Use of Bandages and Washes 

Packing of Feet 

Aged Horses 

Chapter Eight. Preparing for the Sales 

and the Show Rings 115-118 

Avoid Over- Production 

The Best Age at which to Sell 

Preparing for Sales 

Culls 

Show Horses 

Preparing for Shows 

Incidentals 

Chapter Nine. Management of a Stock 

Farm 1 19-129 

Business Principles 

The Superintendent 

The Trainer 

Grooms 

Sources of Revenue 

Advertising and Catalogues 

Breeding Records 

Causes of Failures 

Sources of Waste 

Chapter Ten. Care of the Feet and 

Teeth 130-134 

Care of Feet 

Young Colts 

Corns 

The Perfect Hoof 

Ring- Bone 

After the Races 

Thrush 

Care of the Teeth 



CONTENTS 

Pages 

Chapter Eleven. Some Ailments and 

Disorders i35" I 43 

Treatment of Barren Mares 

Sweat Box 

Treatment for Pneumonia 

Distemper 

When Stallions are Dull 

Masturbation 

Navel Trouble 

Diarrhea. 




x55 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

John Bradburn ...... Frontispiece 

The Abbot (2.0334) • • • opposite page 11 
Nettie King (2.20H) . . . opposite page 27 y 

Prince Ideal opposite page 43 J 

Main Barn at Ideal Stock Farm opposite page 75 u 



BREEDING AND 

DEVELOPING 
THETROTTER 



Chapter One 
PERSONAL 

" Who Is He? " — My First Horse. — My First Brood- 
Mare. — Jane Brown. — Pelham Tartar Jr. — My First 
Stallion. — A Mare that Hambletonian did not Cover. — First 
Day on a Race Track. — Three Card Monte. — A Full 
Fledged Farmer. — A Hotel Keeper and Public Trainer. — 
A Liveryman. — My First Race. — Roadinglt. — Ice Racing. — 
On to Buffalo. — "Der ricked." — Back to Buffalo. — Super- 
intendent at Village Farm. — A Betting System. — Village 
Farm Graduates. — Ideal Stock Farm. 

" WHO IS HE ?" 

SOME of my readers will ask the questions, 
"Who is this man Bradburn? What exper- 
ience has he had? Does he know what he 
is talking about?" 

These questions are pertinent. It is not enough 
for me to say that I have had experience, covering 
the points on which I give advice, — I must ex- 
plain just what that experience was and how it 
was obtained. Here goes for some of the dark 
secrets of my past. 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

I was born in St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada, 
in 1842. My father died when I was six years old 
and, as it was necessary for me to do something 
to support myself, I went on the farm of George 
Oile, and he, after a fashion, adopted me. I was 
then about nine years old. Mr. Oile's farm was 
six miles from St. Catherines and twelve miles 
from Niagara Falls. 

MY FIRST HORSE. 

I was about thirteen years when I came into 
possession of my first horse, a gray colt, which 
Mr. Oile gave me. It did not have a pedigree, in 
fact, not much attention was paid to pedigrees in 
those days. The colt was what would now be 
called a nice general-purpose horse. Like all 
boys in similar positions I thought the colt was 
the greatest one in the world. I broke him and 
drove him till he was four years old and sold him 
for one hundred and fifty dollars, which was then 
a lot of money for a colt, especially to a boy. 

I was now seventeen years old and about this 
time I commenced working Mr. Oile's farm on 
shares. I gave considerable attention to the 
breeding of thoroughbred short-horn cattle and 
long-wooled Leicester sheep and this knowledge 
was afterwards of great service to me in the mat- 
ing of trotters. 

As I have mentioned, little attention was then 
paid to the pedigrees of trotters, but, as I liked 
horses, I kept posted on such matters and before 
long became quite celebrated, locally, as a sup- 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

posed pedigree expert. Wilkes' Spirit of the 
Times was the great trotting authority in the old 
days and all bets went by Wilkes, were he right 
or wrong. In time I came to be known as "Walk- 
ing Wilkes," just as some men are now called "a 
walking encyclopaedia . ' ' 

MY FIRST BROOD-MARE. 

The one hundred and fifty dollars obtained by 
the sale of my colt went to start a bank account 
to which I added "chicken money" from time 
to time. Before very long I saw a gray mare I 
liked and I bought her for one hundred and 
twenty-five dollars. She was said to be by Grey 
Messenger, he reputed to be a grandson of 
Sherman Morgan. The Messenger horse is known 
in the Year Book as Hoagland's Grey Messenger 
155. He had a record of 2.43 and afterwards 
went to New Jersey. 

My mare was carrying a foal by Grantham 
Chief 685 1, a son of Royal George 9. She dropped 
a gray filly which developed into a very hand- 
some mare, but as a three-year-old she jumped 
into a hay rack. I was a pretty sick chap when 
I went into her stall and found pieces of wood 
sticking into her side. Of course she had to be 
killed. 

JANE BROWN. 

After the mare produced the Grantham Chief 
foal I bred her to Prince of Wales, a son of Royal 
George, owned by Alvah Ditrich of St. Cather- 
ines. I paid fifteen dollars service fee and the 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

country people called me crazy. Farm mares 
were usually sent to five-dollar stallions. I al- 
ways liked to breed to the best stallion I could 
afford. There was considerable rivalry between 
Prince of Wales and Grantham Chief, which re- 
sulted in several match races, but the former was 
considered the best in the country. My mare 
foaled a black filly by Prince of Wales. She is 
known in the books as Jane Brown. As a three- 
year-old I sold her to James Haney of St. Johns, 
Ontario, for three hundred and fifty dollars. I 
had trained her to step around a 3.10 clip. The 
second or third time Haney took her to a track 
she trotted a mile in three minutes. Haney sold 
her to William H. Saunders, one of the famous 
old-time horsemen, and father of George Saun- 
ders, a well-known driver of to-day. Saunders 
trained Jane Brown some, but she went wrong 
and he bred her to George Wilkes (2.22). The 
produce was Young Wilkes (2.28^), the sire of 
thirty-two in 2.30. 

PELHAM TARTAR JR. 

After foaling Jane Brown I bred my mare to 
Pelham Tartar, a seal-brown stallion, by Toronto 
Chief, owned by James Cairns and John Fralick, 
livery stable keepers of St. Catherines. Pelham 
Tartar's service fee was twenty dollars and when 
I paid that the neighbors gave up all hopes for 
my sanity. My good opinion of the horse was 
verified when Chandler J. Wells bought him for 
five thousand dollars. His purchase was the sen- 

4 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

sation of that part of the country. My mare 
foaled a gray colt, which I called Pelham Tartar 
Jr. I trained him on " the straight road " which 
ran past the farm and as a three-year-old showed 
him at the fairs at Pelham and Grantham, in the 
classes for style and speed, best three-year-olds 
to harness. I won both. After this I matched 
him against a three-year-old owned by Elias Pater- 
son and Thomas Calbert for one hundred dol- 
lars, so you see my sporting blood cropped out 
young. The match was trotted over the St. Cath- 
erines track, best three in five, pay or play. As 
my opponents were all older men I secured " Pete " 
Curran, a famous local driver, to drive my colt. 
Later, when I took to the sulky myself, I often 
drove races for him. Pelham Tartar Jr. won the 
match in three straight heats, best time 3.03. 
After the race I sold my colt to James Haney, 
who had purchased Jane Brown, for fifteen hun- 
dred dollars, and, of course, I thought I had more 
money than any young man in the world. 

MY FIRST STALLION. 

After my mare had produced Pelham Tartar 
Jr. I bred her to Tom Kimball, a chestnut stallion, 
the sire of Lady Hill (2.35), and got a dark iron- 
gray colt, which I called Tom Kimball Jr. I 
afterwards purchased his sire for four hundred 
dollars and made two seasons with him in Pelham 
township. Tom Kimball Jr. made a nice colt. I 
did not have time to train him, and as no other 
trainer would do I gelded him as a four-year-old 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

and sold him to John Scott of Gait, Ontario, for 
four hundred dollars. 

The next season or two my mare missed but 
afterwards produced a gray filly and a gray colt 
by Tom Kimball. The latter I sold, for a road 
horse, to William Hamlin. 

A MARE THAT HAMBLETONIAN DID NOT COVER. 

To show that I always believed in breeding 
mares to the best stallion I could afford I might 
mention that after selling Pelham Tartar Jr. for 
fifteen hundred dollars, at which time I had about 
twenty-two hundred dollars in the bank, I decided 
to breed my mare to Rysdyk's Hambletonian, 
standing at five hundred dollars. I found that 
the freight and keep of mare would cost an addi- 
tional one hundred and fifty dollars. This was a 
lot of money for a youngster to put into a foal, 
but Hambletonian at that time was on top, and I 
wanted some of his blood. No sooner had I made 
known my intention of breeding my mare to 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian than George Oile and the 
neighbors raised a terrible howl, pronouncing me 
" horse foolish," and some of them went so far as 
to call me insane, — a monomaniac would be the 
term nowadays. Public sentiment was so strong 
against me that I did not send the mare. I con- 
sider this one of the mistakes of my life. 

FIRST DAY ON A RACE TRACK. 

One of the memorable events of my youth was 
my first day on a race track, which was also the 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

first time I ever saw a horse trot faster than 2.30. 
It was the day Flora Temple trotted a match 
against Ike Cook over the St. Catherines track. 
By referring to Chester I find the date to be 
November 5, 1859, — I was then seventeen years 
old. If I remember rightly I should have been in 
school that day. It was a glad day for me, but a 
sad one for Joshua Birch, a friend of mine. He 
had come to town with a load of wheat for his 
father, had sold the wheat, and was on the point 
of starting for home when I saw him. He natur- 
ally asked me where I was going. 

"I'm going to see the great trotter, Flora 
Temple, " I said. " Come along/' 

11 Can't do it," he said. " I've got to get home." 
11 Come along," I insisted. " I'll pay your way 
and pay to have your horses put up." 

THREE CARD MONTE. 

I had a few dollars in my pocket and felt rich. 
With a little persuasion, Joshua was induced to 
accompany me. After eating dinner we went out 
to the race track. A few hundred feet from the 
gate was a ring of people. We went up and found 
a three card monte game in operation. It was the 
first one we had ever seen. Joshua kept his eyes on 
the card several minutes and then turned to me. 

"I'm going to bet him I can spot the card," he 
whispered. 

II Better not," I replied. " I've read about 
such tricks. They're crooked. Those fellows 
wouldn't do it for the fun of the thing, you know." 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

I could not restrain him. He pulled out the 
money he had received for his father's wheat and 
before he stopped he had lost ten dollars, and felt 
pretty sore. 

Before reaching the entrance to the race track 
we sighted another game. Here Joshua decided 
to try to get even but lost twenty dollars more. 
He was a pretty sick chap now, and almost on the 
verge of tears. 

We walked about the grounds a while. After 
taking in the sights I suggested to Joshua that 
we walk to the stables to see them hitching Flora 
Temple. He said he did not care to, but told me 
to go on and promised to meet me later. 

It was some time before I had seen enough of 
Flora Temple, and when I returned to meet 
Joshua I found him very much " down in the 
mouth.' ' He had tackled the card game once 
more and had lost all his father's wheat money, 
about sixty-five dollars in all. He wanted me to 
go home with him, but my fun was just commenc- 
ing, so I stayed. His afternoon's pleasure was 
spoiled and he left. His father was not hard on 
him, knowing that the experience had taught 
Joshua a lesson that can be taken to heart by all 
young men. Flora Temple beat Ike Cook in 
2-35> 2.29, 2.27. 

A FULL-FLEDGED FARMER. 

As stated before, it was about this time I took 
Mr. Oile's farm to work on shares. He gave me 
a third of all stock and crops and the keep of my 

8 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

mare and her produce. I did pretty well on the 
farm and dabbled with horses once in a while. 
One deal in particular I recall. I bought a green 
colt by Prince of Wales, a dark bay, with strip in 
face, for sixty dollars. His dam was by a runner 
called Grantham. I trained the colt on the 
straight road and sold him after three months 
to John Fralick for four hundred and fifty dollars. 
This established for me a local reputation as 
a great colt trainer and one of those " hurrah 
boys." 

A HOTEL KEEPER AND PUBLIC TRAINER. 

In 1870 I tired of farming and, as I had eight 
thousand dollars in the bank, I purchased a hotel 
in Welland, Ontario. Shortly afterwards I entered 
the state of matrimony and married Miss Sarah 
Davis. 

In addition to running the hotel I trained a 
public stable of horses. 

Pelham Tartar Jr. had not been going well for 
James Haney and, as I thought I could get him 
straightened out, I bought him back for six hun- 
dred dollars. The horse had been overtrained and 
was low in flesh. I built him up within six or eight 
weeks and started training him over. In a work- 
out shortly afterwards Pelham Tartar Jr. trotted 
a mile for me in 2.40 and I sold him once more to 
Mr. Haney for twelve hundred dollars. He did 
not improve as he should and as he was a good- 
sized horse and well liked locally Mr. Haney placed 
him in the stud. 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

A LIVERYMAN. 

In 1872 I sold out my hotel and purchased a 
brick block in which were a store, billiard room 
and livery stable. This business kept me busy 
for the next three years when I sold out and 
moved to St. Catherines. In the spring of 1875 
I ran a billiard room of eight tables, but I did not 
like the business. It was too confining. 

I might say right here that by this time I had 
" gone broke." When the Canadian Southern 
Railroad came through and spoiled my livery 
trade I foolishly hung on till I had sunk a great 
deal of money in the business. Four horses were 
doing my work while formerly I needed twenty. 
To cap it all I went on a bond for several thousand 
dollars and had to make good. 

MY FIRST RACE. 

I might previously have described the first race 
in which I ever drove. This was a match race 
between a three-year-old by Grantham Chief, 
which I had purchased for one hundred dollars, 
and another local horse of the same age. The 
match was for seventy-five dollars a side. I won 
in one — two — three order, time about 3.15, 3.20, 
3.25. The same party asked for a return match 
in two weeks, for fifty dollars a side, and this I 
also won in three straight heats. 

ROADING IT. 

One of my first campaigns was with Pelham 
Tartar Jr. and a little running horse called Charles 

10 




PC 

o 



o 

PQ 

< 

H 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

Stewart. I traveled over the road from town to 
town, as we all did in those days, racing at Ham- 
ilton, Gait, Mitchell and Toronto. I had no suc- 
cess : the horses took sick, the weather was hot, 
and the runner lost his speed, so we came home, 
making a very sorry-looking spectacle. 

In 1876 I had fair success with my public 
stable. In my string were Lady Hill, Dominion 
Boy, Brown Dick, Douglas, Quaker Boy and 
Lady H. 

One of the noted races of those days in which I 
drove was trotted on September 15, 1876, at 
Woodbine Track, Toronto, Ontario. It was one 
of the greatest betting races ever seen on any race 
track in Ontario, before or since. There was in 
the neighborhood of forty or fifty thousand dol- 
lars in the box. St. Patrick and Lady Hill were 
about equally well liked, the selling on them 
switching from one hundred — eighty to ninety — 
one hundred. The field — Gray Eddy, William 
W. and Stayer — brought little. I won the first 
heat with Lady Hill, the time hung out being 2.35. 
In reality it was 2.29 3^. St. Patrick won the next 
heat in 2.35 M, really 2.29^, and the third heat 
in 2.35, really 2.30. After this he tired and I won 
the fourth heat in 2.40 (2.31). On account of 
darkness the race was postponed. It commenced 
raining that night and rained all the next day. 
The following day was Sunday. On Monday we 
trotted the race off. St. Patrick won in the 
announced time of 2.35, which was 2.29^ to the 
best of my recollection. 

11 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

After this race I roaded my horses to Oshawa, 
Ontario, twenty-three or twenty-four miles north 
of Toronto. It was the first meeting over a new 
track. I won the 3.00 and 2.50 trots with Doug- 
las, and the 2.34 and free-for-all trots with Lady 
Hill, which cleaned up the card with the excep- 
tion of the county race. 

ICE RACING. 

In the winter of 1876, Mr. Eli Gregory gave me 
the bay gelding Alexander, by Bett's St. Law- 
rence, dam by Pelham Tartar, to get ready for the 
ice races. I also had the gray gelding Monk Boy. 
My first start on the ice was at Dunville, Ontario, 
the last week in December. I also raced at Brant- 
ford, St. Catherines, Toronto, Ottawa, and Mon- 
treal, shipping home about April 15. Monk Boy 
won every race in which he started ; Alexander, 
every race but one, winning fourteen out of fifteen 
starts. He started twice at Dunville, Brantford 
and St. Catherines and three times at Toronto, 
Ottawa and Montreal. He won two heats and 
second money in his losing race. It was a very 
successful season. Alexander was afterwards sold 
to John Reardon of St. Catherines for one thou- 
sand nine hundred and seventy-five dollars. He 
was a very peculiar horse, in that he would 
always take the colic if fed a bran mash. 

ON TO BUFFALO. 

In the spring of 1877 I moved to the Buffalo 
(N. Y.) Driving Park and opened a public train- 

12 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

ing stable. It was in this year I first met Mr. 
C. J. Hamlin, in whose employ I was afterwards 
destined to be for some twenty-five years. He 
was a regular visitor to the track. During 1877 
I campaigned Monk Boy, Jim Ash, Black Bear, 
Gray Salem, etc. 

In 1878 I campaigned Alexander and two others 
through Canada, Michigan and Northern New 
York. 

" DERRICKED." 

In 1878 occurred the first and only time I was 
taken out of the sulky. On September 12, I was 
racing Jim White (2.31) at Elmira, N. Y. In the 
same race were Nell Parks, Monk Boy, Helen R., 
Lady Wonder and Elliot. Elliot won the first 
heat. Lady Wonder won the next heat and dis- 
tanced Elliot. I had given the owner of Jim 
White some of my money to play on the horse, 
so after the second heat I went to him and said : 
1 ' I think we stand a chance to win. " ' ' All right, ' ' 
he replied, " your money is down." The next 
heat I won and Lady Wonder was distanced. 
I won the fourth heat also. Then the owner came 
to me and told me not to win another heat till 
instructed. I was between the devil and deep 
sea. My financial condition was such that I 
could not afford to antagonize the owner. I had 
no religious compunction against dropping a heat 
now and then, if it would help my horse to win, 
but in this instance the field had narrowed down. 
My horse outclassed everything, and could win 

13 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

easily. I asked the owner why it was necessary 
to drop the heat. He then confessed that he had 
played against his gelding all the time and had 
played my money also. I informed him that it 
was a nice time to tell me about it and advised 
him to play off as much of our money as he could 
and let me win. He would not consent to this so 
I dropped the next heat. It was won by Nelly 
Parks. The race was then postponed and only 
two of us were left to finish. That evening I was 
called to the telephone. It was about the first 
time I had used one. A friend down town in- 
formed me that it was reported I would be taken 
out of the sulky the next day. It did not sur- 
prise me any, — in fact was just what I expected. 
I now figured out that if I wished to protect my- 
self and not stand liable to expulsion I would have 
to see to it that the gelding lost. I sat up almost 
all night whittling a pair of wooden toe-weights, 
which I colored to resemble the metal ones. 
These weighed one and one half ounces, whereas 
the horse had been using six-ounce weights. Sure 
enough the next day, when Jim White and Nelly 
Parks came out to trot off the race, the judges 
took me down and put up Jimmy Goldsmith. 
Jim White was, of course, unsteady and they 
scored seventeen times. I was called to the 
stand. The judges told me to stay near and 
added that if the horses did not get the word on 
the next score I would be put back, as they 
thought I might make a better showing. I had 
previously promised to try to win if they would 

14 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

let me drive. In the next score Goldsmith took 
the gelding way back. Jim White stayed on his 
feet but was far in the rear. Goldsmith nodded 
for the word and it was given. The horse made 
a double break on the first turn and I gave a sigh 
of relief. When he got settled at the quarter 
pole, Nelly Parks was entering the head of the 
stretch the first time round. Jim White set sail 
and trotted so much faster than she that he easily 
won in 2.37 3^, which was five seconds faster than 
any heat in the race. He trotted the last half in 
1. 10 3^. The judges awarded Goldsmith fifty 
dollars of the winnings for driving and mercifully 
let me off with a lecture. No judge ever had 
occasion thereafter to take me out of the sulky. 
I had had enough of that sort of business. 

This is one instance which upholds a theory of 
mine that more drivers are made to do crooked 
things by their employers than do so on their own 
account. And just here, one word of advice to 
all young trainers : Win by all means if you can. 

BACK TO BUFFALO. 

In 1879 I returned to Buffalo and opened a 
public stable. I had sixteen horses, including 
Monk Boy, Gray Salem and Lady Upton. That 
fall Mr. C. J. Hamlin placed in my stable Rockey, 
Almont Jr. and Knox. In February, 1880, I 
engaged to go to East Aurora, N. Y., to take 
charge of Mr. Hamlin's horses. 

At this point mention might be made of a race 
which did more to bring me close to Mr. Hamlin 

15 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

than any one thing. This was the race of August 
7, 1879, in which were entered Kate Hall, Daciana 
Gloster, Lady Upton, Argonaut, Nigger Baby 
and Lady B. I was second the first and second 
heats with Lady Upton and thought I stood a 
chance to win, but the owner did not want me to 
so I asked him to drive. After the fifth heat my 
mare was ruled out and the race postponed on 
account of darkness. The judges had not been 
satisfied with the way McLaughlin had driven 
Kate Hall, which had two heats to her credit. 
They took the mare away from him and placed 
her in charge of the police, and brought her to 
my stable where she remained under police pro- 
tection all night. The judges asked me to drive 
her the next day. After I had jogged Kate Hall 
in the morning the judges, C. J. Hamlin, Chandler 
J. Wells and Myron P. Bush, visited me and 
looked over the mare. They asked about her 
condition and I told them the mare seemed to be 
all right and had taken her jog work nicely. They 
cautioned me against having any of her harness 
changed and told me to be sure to drive to win, 
adding that if I did not the heat would be called 
no heat and another driver put up. I told them 
I would drive according to instructions. I re- 
member Mr. Hamlin's remark : " Bradburn will 
win if he can; I know he will." After it became 
noised about that I would drive Kate Hall I was 
offered fifteen hundred dollars to pull the mare 
and lose the race. Of course I refused, although 
I needed the money. Another party offered me 

16 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

two thousand dollars to turn the same trick. I 
had no difficulty in winning, much to the satis- 
faction of Mr. Hamlin and the other judges and 
the owner, Mr. Hamilton. I was awarded one 
hundred dollars for driving. 

SUPERINTENDENT AT VILLAGE FARM. 

Village Farm, as Mr. Hamlin named his farm, 
because it was located within the village limits, 
grew rapidly and in 1880 Mr. Hamlin decided he 
needed a superintendent. He selected me. 

From that time my duties were to manage the 
Village Farm in all its departments, and to be 
able each fall to turn a stable of prospects over 
to the Village Farm trainers. 

A BETTING SYSTEM. 

I might mention here an incident which oc- 
curred in 1 88 1 while I was racing Rockey for 
Mr. Hamlin, at which time Mr. Hamlin gave me 
some advice which I took to heart and profited 
by, as many others might well do. 

Rockey looked very good for a certain race and 
I played almost all my money on him and lost. 
Mr. Hamlin heard of it. " Bradbury" he said, 
"make it a rule never to bet more than ten per cent 
of your money on a horse race. Then if you lose 
you have ninety per cent to commence on the next 
morning. They can't break you that way whether 
you are worth a hundred or a hundred thousand." 

Billy Sargent had heard of my tough luck and 
felt sorry, so he told me he thought he had an 

17 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

excellent chance to win with Josephus. I bor- 
rowed twenty dollars and bought two ten-dollar 
tickets which called for one hundred and ninety 
dollars and one hundred and seventy dollars 
respectively. Josephus won the first two heats, 
then Fanny Witherspoon the third and fourth. 
The race was postponed. I was not so confident 
as I might have been. My confidence was shaken 
when Crit Davis came to Mr. Hamlin and sold 
him Betty Mac, a half sister of Fanny Wither- 
spoon and then in Kentucky, for five hundred 
dollars, so as to have more money to place on the 
Witherspoon mare. Betty Mac is the dam of E. S. 
E. (2.11)4) and Red Regent (2.18%), and the 
grandam of Ed. Easton (4) (2.09 %) and third dam 
of American Belle (3) (2 . 1 2 }£) . I went back to Jo- 
sephus' stall and helped work on him that night. 
No horse received better attention. It was a 
matter of life and death with me. Josephus won 
the deciding heat. This put me on my feet and 
by the end of the meeting I had eight hundred 
dollars. After that I tried to follow Mr. Ham- 
lin's advice about betting only ten per cent of one's 
money on a race, and never since then has John 
Bradburn been broke, although at times perhaps 
he has been " bent." 

VILLAGE FARM GRADUATES. 

After I became superintendent, the first trainer 
at Village Farm was Frank Baldwin, who was 
employed in 1882 and 1883. Horace Brown was 
the next trainer, and his connection lasted from 

18 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

1884 to 1888, with W. J. Andrews, Malem Brown 
and Arthur Brown as assistants. Andrews was 
head trainer during 1889 and 1890, with great 
success. James Brigham was his assistant. In 
1 89 1 there was no regular trainer. The horses 
were prepared by George Moore and Billy Powell 
and turned over to Ed. Geers to be driven in races. 
In 1892 Mr. Geers was engaged as a regular 
trainer, and filled the position until 1904, after 
which time Ben. F. White, Mr. Geers' assistant, 
took charge and was head trainer until the Vil- 
lage Farm was dispersed at the Fasig-Tipton 
Company's midwinter sale of February, 1905. 

While Mr. Geers was head trainer the following 
were engaged as his assistants at various times : 
Charlie Lyons, Charlie Niles, Harry Benedict and 
Ben. F. White. 

The following have also trained at Village 
Farm : Alonzo McDonald, L. A. Dovel, Theodore 
Allen, Dave Clipj)enger, Lafe Schaeffer, John 
Graham, J. Scottt |C Cfoy, W. L. Rhodes, George 
Bodimer, John Alward, Patsy Ready, Frank 
Vorhees, George Foster and James Humes. 

Many of the prominent drivers of to-day, be- 
cause of their former connection with the Village 
Farm, are known as " Village Farm Graduates." 

A graduate of the Village Farm office force, 
well known to all horsemen, is E. J. Tranter, for 
many years cashier at Village Farm, afterwards 
senior partner of Tranter-Kenney Company, and 
now manager of the trotting department of Fasig- 
Tipton Company. 

19 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

IDEAL STOCK FARM. 

Just previous to the Village Farm dispersal 
sale, Messrs. S. H. Knox and Daniel Good of Buf- 
falo, N. Y., visited Village Farm and informed me 
that they had decided to embark in the breeding 
business, starting where Mr. Hamlin left off. 
They marked several horses which they liked, 
secured them at the sale and founded the Ideal 
Stock Farm, East Aurora, N. Y. They employed 
Ben. F. White as trainer and afterwards engaged 
me as superintendent. My candid opinion is, 
considering the quality of their horses, that they 
have started nearer right than any others who, 
to my knowledge, have ever entered the business. 



20 



Chapter Two 

THE VILLAGE FARM THEORY 
OF BREEDING 

"World's Greatest Trotting Nursery.' 1 — Mr. Hamlin's 
First Mare. — Hamlin Patchen.— Mr. Hamlin's First Team. 
— Golddust. — Woful.^ — Mermaid and Dictator Maid. — 
Weeding Out. — ■ Nettie Murphy. — Minnequa Maid. — Pur- 
chasing a Premier. — ■ More Purchases. — Estabella. — Almont 
Jr. — Mambrino King. — "The Handsomest Horse in the 
World." — Chimes. — Golden Gateway. — Rex Americus. — 
Athanio. — Direct Hal. — The First Catalogue. — Mr. Ham- 
lin's "Theory of Breeding.' 1 — The Brood-mare's Importance. — 
Beauty and Speed. — Developed Sires. — A Challenge. — Select- 
ing Brood-mares. — A Prediction. — "The Passing of Village 
Farm." 

THIS chapter will not be statistical nor en- 
tirely historical. I will attempt to show 
how certain things were accomplished at 
Village Farm so that the successful results may- 
serve as an example to the younger generation 
of breeders. 

world's greatest trotting nursery. 

It must be remembered that Village Farm 
earned its sobriquet of " World's Greatest Trot- 
ting Nursery' ' by breeding more 2.10 performers, 
among them many world's champions, than any 
other breeding establishment, and winning more 
money on the Grand Circuit than any other farm. 
Therefore, any breeder that " follows its lead " 

21 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

and begins where it left off will not be left 
behind. Messrs. Knox and Good, in my opinion, 
have realized this better than any others, as will 
be seen by reading a portion of the announce- 
ment of their first catalogue, that of 1905 : 

" In establishing Ideal Stock Farm it has been 
our aim to use, for foundation material, stallions 
and brood-mares bred on the most advanced lines 
and representing the results of the life work of the 
man who accomplished more in the way of breed- 
ing race-horses of extreme speed than any one 
breeder. When the Village Farm was dispersed, 
it was there we looked to secure the foundation 
for the Ideal Stock Farm, for the reason that Vil- 
lage Farm stood far in advance of all others in 
the production of horses possessing, in combina- 
tion with speed, the beauty of conformation which 
enables them to win the highest honors in the 
show ring where beauty and good individuality 
are the qualities demanded.' ' 

Mr. Hamlin's desire to combine beauty and 
speed was born of an admiration, in the early 
days, of such stallions as Ethan Allen and George 
M. Patchen. 

Mr. Hamlin used to say : " When you go into 
a ball-room you would much rather choose as a 
partner a beautiful woman that can dance well 
than a homely one that can dance equally 
well." He held similar views concerning beauti- 
ful horses with speed and horses with speed but 
which did not come up to his standard of 
beauty. 

22 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

mr. hamlin's first mare. 

The first mare Mr. Hamlin ever owned was 
Little Belle, by Sherman Black Hawk, from the 
famous old-time race mare Belle of Saratoga 
(2.29), by Vermont Black Hawk. Little Belle 
was used as a road mare by her owner, then a 
country store-keeper in East Aurora, N. Y. Mr. 
Hamlin bred her to Addison, a son of Vermont 
Black Hawk, standing at Corning, N. Y., and 
the produce was Mag Addison. The latter was 
also used as a road mare and in 1862 was bred to 
George M. Patchen, then the champion trotting 
stallion and standing at one hundred dollars. 
The produce was Hamlin Patchen. 

It was previous to breeding Hamlin Patchen, 
1857, to be exact, that Mr. Hamlin purchased 
the original sixty-six acres of Village Farm proper. 
This he added to from time to time. 

Mr. Hamlin thought a great deal of Hamlin 
Patchen, his first stock horse, as will be seen from 
a portion of the announcement in the 1884 Village 
Farm catalogue. 

HAMLIN PATCHEN. 

n As I have so many of the descendants of 
Hamlin Patchen at Village Farm a few words 
about him may prove of interest to those who 
turn the pages of this catalogue. He was foaled 
in 1862, and was sired by George M. Patchen, one 
of the finest-looking horses that ever struck the 
turf, and one of the fastest of his day. He made 
a record of 2.23^, and 2.30 performers came from 

23 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

his loins. Hamlin Patchen is a strong, blocky- 
built black, standing nearly 15.3 hands, and 
when three years old I had hopes that he would 
show the speed of his distinguished sire, but he 
was frightened by a dog, ran away to wagon and 
injured himself. Thus he was compelled to enter 
the stud without obtaining a turf record. His 
sons and daughters are hardy and pleasant 
drivers." 

Hamlin Patchen's injury was a peculiar one. 
He was standing hitched on a barn floor when a 
dog ran through the stable. The horse reared 
and fell backwards, injuring his spine. On get- 
ting up he bolted out the door and while running 
away further injured himself. 

mr. hamlin's first team. 

After securing Little Belle, one of Mr. Hamlin's 
next purchases was the team Tidy and LaBlonde, 
full sisters by Ethan Allen. They cost about six 
hundred dollars. Mr. Hamlin could drive them 
double close to 2.30. He could drive a double 
team better than any man I ever saw. These 
mares were sold to H. N. Smith, of the Fashion 
Stud Farm, Trenton, N. J., for four thousand 
dollars. Tidy was bred to Jay Gould and pro- 
duced the dam of Boodle (2.12^). 

GOLDDUST. 

One of Mr. Hamlin's next purchases was Gold- 
dust, by Dorsey's Golddust, dam by imported 
Glencoe. L. L. Dorsey had sent what he con- 

24 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

sidered the best daughter of Golddust to Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian, hoping to get a stallion colt. The 
produce was the mare Bay Hambletonian. He 
bred the Golddust mare back and that fall shipped 
the mare and filly at side to Kentucky, via Buf- 
falo. He unloaded at East Buffalo in order to 
give the mare and colt a rest, and invited his 
friend, Mr. Hamlin, to see them. Mr. Hamlin 
liked both so well he bought them for twelve hun- 
dred dollars, as I remember it. Unfortunately, 
the mare proved not with foal and was barren for 
several seasons. Finally, to the service of Ham- 
lin Patchen, Golddust produced Black Golddust, 
dam of Justina (2.13 to pole, 2.20 to harness) and 
Glendennis (2.1734), and grandam of The Monk 
(2.05%), etc. 

WOFUL. 

In 1873 Mr. Hamlin bought Woful by Min- 
chen's Woful, from a Mr. Minchen of Orange 
County, N. Y. She is the third dam of Pass- 
ing Belle (2.08 M) and the fourth dam of Lord 
Derby (2.05%) (winner of seventy-four thousand 
eight hundred and twenty-five dollars on the 
Grand Circuit), Fantasy (2.06) and Shadow 
Chimes (2.05). 

MERMAID AND DICTATOR MAID. 

In 1875 Mr. Hamlin purchased Mermaid and 
Dictator Maid, both by Dictator, paying for the 
former twenty-five hundred dollars and the latter 
fifteen hundred dollars. He liked the Dictator 

25 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

strain and once offered twenty-one thousand dol- 
lars for Dictator when he was twenty-one years 
old. Mermaid founded a family and is the fourth 
dam of Dare Devil (2.09). Dictator Maid is the 
grandam of Globe (2.14%). 

WEEDING OUT. 

On a rainy day in July, 1880, Mr. Hamlin 
visited the farm, and, calling me into the office, 
said : 

11 Bradburn, what do you think of my horses? 
I want your candid opinion. A horse is a horse, 
and a man is a man, be he good man or bad man." 

My reply was, " Mr. Hamlin, what I would say 
to you about your horses would make you angry." 

He said, " No, it will not. Spit it out." 

Then I told him that were I a wealthy man 
breeding trotters, with the exception of four or 
five mares and Almont Jr., I wouldn't take his 
horses as a gift. 

He studied over this awhile and then he asked 
me which ones I would take. 

I replied that I liked Almont Jr. very much, on 
account of his style, finish and his having a great 
deal of natural speed for those days. My choice 
of the brood-mares was Bay Hambletonian, 
Miranda, Toy and Black Golddust. Among the 
fillies I liked Belle Hamlin, her sister, Belle Sloan, 
and Justina. 

Naturally my selections out of fifty head were 
a matter of argument. Many of those I rejected 
were by Hamlin Patchen and Royal George. 

26 




O 

w 

t 

w 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

They were not good individuals. I told Mr. Ham- 
lin that from what knowledge I had gained in 
breeding horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens 
(especially game chickens), dogs, cats, etc., I was 
certain the families would not do. 

It was now nearly train time so Mr. Hamlin 
asked me to prepare a list of the horses which I 
considered undesirable and have it ready for him 
the next time he visited the farm. 

One of the first questions he asked on this next 
visit was, " Have you that list ready ?" 

" Yes, sir," I replied. 

He looked it over and ordered me to sell all 
horses listed as soon as possible. 

I suggested that he place a value on them. 

" Ask a good, fair price," were his instructions, 
" but accept any offer you may get." 

And thus the least desirable animals were 
weeded out. 

NETTIE MURPHY. 

In 1 88 1 Mr. Hamlin purchased Nettie Murphy, 
for two hundred and fifty dollars, from Thomas J. 
Murphy of Buffalo. Bred to Mambrino King 
she produced Nettie King (2.20 J4)> dam of The 
Abbot (2.03 }i) y and The Beau Ideal (2.15^). 

MINNEQUA MAID. 

The same year (1881) Mr. Hamlin and myself 
went to look at Woods' Hambletonian, owned by 
Joseph Woods & Bros., of Knoxville, Penn. This 
stallion was then coming before the public as a 

27 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

sire, despite his limited opportunities because of 
his standing at an out-of-the-way place. Woods' 
Hambletonian was a roan horse and then twenty- 
three years old. Mr. Hamlin offered six thou- 
sand dollars for him, but this was refused and 
seven thousand five hundred asked. While on 
this farm Mr. Hamlin paid two hundred and fifty 
dollars for Minnequa Maid, by Woods' Hamble- 
tonian, from a running-bred mare. Minnequa 
Maid, bred to Mambrino King, produced Night- 
ingale (2.08), and bred to Chimes produced Milan 
Chimes (2.13^), whose racing career was ended 
by his untimely death, and Chimes Girl (2) (2.26). 
Bred to Heir-at-Law she produced Scape Goat 
(2.11M). 

PURCHASING A PREMIER. 

After cleaning up the odds and ends, although 
Mr. Hamlin was a very busy man, it required very 
little argument to convince him that he must have 
some more good mares and another stallion, for 
at this time he had several Almont Jr. mares 
approaching breeding age. 

In the spring of 1882 Mr. Hamlin sent me to 
Kentucky to look at stallions and brood-mares. 
I was seeking a son of George Wilkes, for I thought 
we needed some of the blood, although Mr. Ham- 
lin did not like the Wilkes family. His objec- 
tions to the Wilkeses were that they bred un- 
evenly, toed out and were low headed. I looked 
at Alcantara, then a six-year-old; Alcyone, then 
a five-year-old, for which Mr. Hamlin afterwards 

28 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

offered twenty thousand dollars ; Onward, then 
a seven-year-old ; and Red Wilkes, then an eight- 
year-old. I next visited Dr. Heir's farm and, 
for the first time, saw Mambrino Patchen and his 
ten-year-old son, Mambrino King, which horse 
had been playing second fiddle to his sire. I 
reported to Mr. Hamlin that I had never seen a 
horse till I saw Mambrino King. I came back 
home with a list of stallions and mares that could 
be purchased. 

In the course of a month Mr. Hamlin went to 
Kentucky and purchased Mambrino King for 
seventeen thousand dollars; Gertie Smith, by 
Mambrino Patchen, for one thousand dollars; 
Play Girl, by Mambrino Patchen, for eight hun- 
dred dollars ; Gerster, by Hero of Thorndale, for 
four hundred and fifty dollars, at auction. Mr. 
Hamlin's son, Mr. William Hamlin, purchased 
Goldfringe, by Mambrino King, for one thousand 
dollars. By this time Mr. Hamlin concluded he 
had invested enough money in trotters so he tel- 
egraphed me to come to Lexington and attend to 
shipping his purchases home. 

Soon after the purchase of Mambrino King, Mr. 
Hamlin's sons began to take a great deal of busi- 
ness off their father's shoulders and from that time 
on Mr. Hamlin made regular visits to the farm, 
when in Buffalo, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. 

MORE PURCHASES. 

In the spring of 1883 Mr. Hamlin again sent 
me to Kentucky to look for a young Wilkes stal- 

29 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

lion to cross on the Mambrino King fillies when 
they came on. 

Many of the " knockers " had called Mambrino 
King a " dude stallion " with nothing in the 2.30 
list. As a matter of fact, on account of standing 
on the same farm with his sire, he had never had 
a good opportunity. I was instructed while on 
my Kentucky trip to look out also for some Mam- 
brino King colts, which we could develop for the 
benefit of their sire. 

After looking around Lexington I went to the 
farm of W. H. Wilson, Cynthiana, Ky., where I 
found Simmons, then four years old. I tele- 
graphed Mr. Hamlin that I had found a stallion I 
believed would suit him and that I was on the 
track of some Mambrino King colts and fillies. 
We met at Lexington. Mr. Hamlin's first pur- 
chase was Queenie King, by Mambrino King, which 
he purchased of Mike Bowerman for seven hundred 
dollars. This was one of Bowerman's first high- 
priced sales. Queenie King afterwards produced 
The Queen (2.10M) and King Chimes (2.10%). 
The next horse bought was King Philip (2.26), 
by Mambrino King, which Mr. Hamlin and I pur- 
chased in partnership from Major P. P. John- 
ston, for twenty-five hundred dollars. At Dr. 
Herr's we had the choice of Silver King (2.263^), 
aged two years, and Elyria, a yearling, for twenty- 
five hundred dollars. We chose the former be- 
cause Elyria was smaller and a little double-gaited. 
We then went to Cynthiana and offered seventy- 
five hundred for Simmons, but as Mr. Wilson 

30 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

would not sell for less than ten thousand dollars 
we returned without the horse. 

ESTABELLA. 

In the fall of 1884 Mr. Hamlin went to Stony 
Ford Farm, Charles Backman, proprietor, and 
purchased Feroline, by Kentucky Prince, for five 
thousand dollars; Barbara, by Kentucky Prince, 
for two thousand dollars ; and Marjorie, by Ken- 
tucky Prince, for twenty-five hundred dollars. 
Estabella, by Alcantara, owned by David Bonner, 
was on the same farm. She was then a little, 
low-down, squatty three-year-old filly, but we 
purchased her for one thousand dollars. Fero- 
line produced the dam of Lord March (2.113^). 
Estabella produced Heir-at-Law (2.05%); Prince 
Regent (2.16}^), for whom Charles Marvin once 
offered fifty thousand dollars ; Princess Royal (2) 
(2.20), dam of The Earl (3) (2.17), and Princess 
Chimes, the dam of Lady of the Manor (2.04 34), 
etc. A prominent breeder once offered twenty- 
five thousand dollars for either of two fillies 
by Chimes, from Estabella. Barbara produced 
Emily (2.1 1). 

Mr. Hamlin was a good judge of a horse and an 
excellent buyer. On the other hand he was a 
poor seller. Often after he had refused a good 
offer for a colt I have induced the would-be pur- 
chaser to return to the farm in Mr. Hamlin's 
absence and would effect a sale. I remember one 
occasion in particular when he refused an offer of 
twenty-five thousand dollars for four fillies and a 

31 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

stud colt. He hated to sell his best, in fact, 
advised strongly against it. 

Mr. Hamlin's first stallion was Hamlin Patchen, 
which he bred, as previously mentioned. 

ALMONT JR. 

He bought Almont Jr. (2.26) as a four-year-old 
in 1876, paying Mr. William Payne of Scott 
County, Ky., twenty-five hundred dollars for 
him. He kept Almont Jr. until 1891, when he 
was leased two seasons to Mr. William C. Dickin- 
son of the Connecticut River Stock Farm, Hat- 
field, Mass. Mr. Dickinson had bred a number 
of mares at Village Farm, and purchased Elect- 
mont, that has since sired Lady Sealskin (2.06^) 
and others, for twenty-five hundred dollars. 

In 1893 Almont Jr. was back at Village Farm. 
In 1900 he was leased to Stillman M. Thomas of 
Franklinville, N. Y., for four seasons. In 1904 
he was returned to Village Farm. He was then 
thirty-two years old but vigorous and was allowed 
to cover a coach mare, which he got with foal. 
As his teeth were decaying rapidly the horse was 
chloroformed. 

MAMBRINO KING. 

The purchase of Mambrino King was spoken of 
in connection with the brood-mare purchases. 

Mr. Hamlin thought so much of Mambrino 
King that he always " spread " on him in his 
catalogues. The following is what he said of the 
horse in his first catalogue, that of 1884 : 

32 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

11 THE HANDSOMEST HORSE IN THE WORLD." 

11 Mambrino King stands 15.3 hands, and he is 
universally conceded to be what the French Com- 
missioners pronounced him, ' The handsomest 
horse in the world/ He combines strength, intel- 
ligence, courage, faultless action and good breed- 
ing with symmetry and style. His second dam 
was the dam of Fisk's Mambrino Chief, a horse 
that sold for twelve thousand dollars. His legs 
are stoutly corded and free from blemish, and his 
feet are entirely sound. He has no imperfections 
to transmit and, judging him by his stud fruits, 
he has the power to stamp out defects in the dam. 

" He has never been put in trotting condition, 
but has often been driven by Dr. Herr and his 
colored groom quarters in thirty-four and thirty- 
five seconds and thirty-five and a fraction, in the 
presence of David Bonner and hundreds of others. 
In the fall of 1881 he showed in an exhibition trot 
at the Lexington Fair, when he was speeded, a 
half-mile in 1.14 ; jogged to the half-mile pole and 
repeated in just exactly the same time, without 
making a break or the least urging, and this after 
the regular season in the stud. He wears light 
shoes and no toe-weights. Dr. Herr writes me 
that the colts left in Kentucky by him are coming 
to the front as trotters, and he predicts that in 
three years from now Mambrino King will stand 
at the head of all trotting stallions. He has a rich 
speed inheritance, and this he can hardly fail to 
perpetuate. I paid a large price for him, and 
during the short period he has been located at 

33 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

Village Farm not less than sixteen thousand 
people have called to see and admire him.* I 
believe in breeding a class of horses which possess 
beauty and style as well as speed, and am satis- 
fied that I will accomplish my purpose by using 
Mambrino King in the stud. I reproduce in this 
connection a description of the horse, written by 
the well-known S. T. H., of Cincinnati : 

" ' His rich, satin-like coat glistening in the 
sunlight, more handsome in his exquisite pro- 
portions and lofty in his splendid carriage than 
the proudest Nedjed Arabian of the desert. In- 
deed, as he stood before us, his eyes flashing and 
his gazelle ears pointing forward, and his arching 
neck revealing the delicate network of swelling 
veins, and his symmetrical barrel revealing every 
contour of equine beauty, and his full, flowing 
tail, gracefully floating like a gossamer banner, 
we thought that if he could be instantly trans- 
formed into marble he would remain forever the 
sculptor's model of an ideal horse/ 

" I also call attention to the following extract 
from the official report of Baron Pavorot de Ker- 
beck, French Colonel of Dragoons, who was de- 
puted by his government to make an extensive 
tour of inspection of the horses of America : 

11 ' Mambrino King is the most splendid speci- 
men we have had an opportunity of admiring. 
Imagine an Alfred de Dreux, a burnt chestnut, 
whole colored, standing 15.3 hands, with an ex- 

*I recall one day when Mambrino King was taken out of his stall to be 
shown to visitors one hundred and seventy times. John Bradburn. 

34 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

pressive head ; large, intelligent and spirited eyes ; 
well-opened lower jaws, well-set ears; the neck 
and shoulders splendidly shaped, long and grace- 
fully rounded off ; the shoulders strong and thrown 
back well ; the withers well in place and top mus- 
cular, the ribs round and loin superb, the crupper 
long and broad ; limbs exceedingly fine, the joints 
powerful ; the tail carried majestically and all the 
movements high and spirited — imagine all this 
and you have an idea of this stallion. He is as 
open, if we look at him in front, as he is in his 
hind quarters — the whole animal being an em- 
bodiment of purity of lines, elegance and elas- 
ticity. He is, in fact, perfection.' " 

Later, Mr. Hamlin added this paragraph to his 
description of the horse : 

" It should be borne in mind that until he was 
ten years of age Mambrino King was owned by 
Dr. Herr, and being so overshadowed in reputa- 
tion as a stock horse by his famous sire, Mam- 
brino Patchen, he had few or no opportunities of 
serving mares of the best breeding. The natural 
speed and great beauty of the fillies which I have 
seen that were sired by him when he was in Ken- 
tucky, and the same qualities in those which he 
has sired since he came to Village Farm, together 
with the fact that Mambrino King is far more 
beautiful and more richly bred than Mambrino 
Patchen, warrant me in making the prediction 
that his daughters will be superior as brood-mares 
to those of his sire, which have proven them- 
selves the most valuable of any in the country. 

35 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

In this opinion I am fully sustained by the 
judgment of Dr. Herr." 

Without special preparation Horace Brown 
once drove Mambrino King a public exhibition 
half-mile, at Buffalo, in 1.12, with the horse in 
stud condition. 

Mambrino King was still vigorous at twenty- 
seven years but his teeth were decaying and he 
had a painful injury on the knee, due to the kick 
of a mare, and he was chloroformed. 

CHIMES. 

When the Mambrino King fillies came on it 
was necessary to select a stallion to cross on them. 
Usually Mr. Hamlin would buy for Village Farm 
anything I advised. Effecting the purchase of 
Chimes was the hardest proposition I ever ran up 
against. I had first seen Chimes at Rochester, 
N. Y., as a yearling in the fall of 1885. I was 
working out a mare that could step around 2.32. 
Charlie Marvin was out behind Chimes and asked 
me how fast I was going. I replied, " Around 
2.40, with the last half in twelve." " I'll work 
with you," he said. Horace Brown was out 
behind a mare and the three of us worked to- 
gether, giving the colt the pole. Chimes kept the 
mares busy to the half, while Marvin was buggy 
riding. At the head of the stretch the two mares 
were on their toes, while Marvin commenced 
moving away. Chimes was soon so far in the lead 
that I was ashamed to finish the mile and, pulling 

36 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

my mare up, I turned around and went back to 
the stable. 

I talked Chimes all winter. He was a rapid- 
going colt and would, I thought, mate well with 
the Mambrino Kings, which did not have enough 
knee action and were long striders. Mr. Hamlin 
saw Chimes that fall at the St. Louis Fair but was 
not greatly impressed, because the colt went low 
headed and did not carry his tail as Mr. Hamlin 
liked to see a horse do. In 1886, while at Sagi- 
naw, Mich., Mr. Hamlin promised to make an 
offer for Chimes. He asked Marvin what the colt 
could be bought for. Marvin replied, " He is the 
best colt we ever raised and I do not care to price 
him. However, I will telegraph any fair offer 
you may make to Governor Stanford.' ' Stanford 
was at that time in the Senate at Washington. 
Mr. Hamlin offered ten thousand dollars for the 
colt. Marvin said he did not like to telegraph so 
low an offer. Mr. Hamlin then offered twelve 
thousand dollars and Marvin telegraphed his 
employer to that effect. Governor Stanford's 
answer was that if the colt was going to a good 
home and the sale was for cash, to sell. That was 
how Chimes came into the possession of Mr. 
Hamlin. 

We worked Chimes a mile in 2.25 as a two-year- 
old. In the spring of 1887, as a three-year-old, 
we bred him to sixteen mares and raced him that 
summer. He won nine thousand dollars and took 
a record of 2.30%, which was no measure of his 
speed. Marvin, in his book, tells of driving 

37 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

Chimes a quarter in thirty-five seconds at fifteen 
months. Chimes was very successful in the stud, 
financially and otherwise. One year he made 
twenty-one thousand dollars for Village Farm, 
covering forty-two outside mares at five hundred 
dollars. 

GOLDEN GATEWAY. 

Golden Gateway, by Guy Wilkes (2.15 J4), was 
purchased at auction in 1889, when he was ten 
months old, for fifty-one hundred dollars. He 
was believed to be the first colt with three pro- 
ducing dams. 

REX AMERICUS. 

Rex Americus (2.1 1 H) was purchased, as a two- 
year-old, from J. H. Thayer, for fifteen' thousand 
dollars. He made a season as a three-year-old, 
producing Battleton (2.09%) and American Belle 
(2.12 J4) from these services. 

ATHANIO. 

In 1895 Mr. Hamlin and Mr. Geers purchased 
Athanio (2) (2.19^), from George L. Warton, 
Fresno, Cal., for twelve hundred dollars. After 
taking a record of 2.10 he was sold at auction for 
three thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars 
and went to Austria. 

DIRECT HAL. 

The last stallion Mr. Hamlin purchased, and 
the only pacing stallion, was Direct Hal, owned 

38 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

by Mr. Ed. Geers. I saw Direct Hal first as a 
two-year-old and liked him. At that time we had 
about gone the limit on the Mambrino King- 
Chimes cross and needed an outcross. As some 
of our mares produced fast pacers I thought 
Direct Hal would make a good cross and advised 
Mr. Hamlin to breed some mares to him. To 
this suggestion he replied, " If I want the use of 
a stallion I can afford to own him. What do you 
suppose people would say if I bred to an outside 
stallion? I don't want to dig my own grave. 
Let some one else do that." It was some time 
before Mr. Hamlin could induce Mr. Geers to sell, 
but the horse finally changed hands for ten thou- 
sand dollars. At that time his fastest mile had 
been in 2.17 H with a half in 1.06. We bred him 
as a four-year-old and five-year-old, and in the 
latter year he worked a mile in 2.06^. As a six- 
year-old he was raced. He was unbeaten down 
the Grand Circuit and took a record of 2.04 J4, 
winning twenty-six thousand five hundred dollars. 
At one time Direct Hal could have been sold 
for forty thousand dollars. 

THE FIRST CATALOGUE. 

The Village Farm catalogues record many of 
Mr. Hamlin's views on the breeding problem. 

The first catalogue of Village Farm was issued 
in 1884. It was my first experience as a catalogue 
compiler and I never worked so hard on anything 
in my life. At that time the facilities for com- 
piling catalogues were not what they now are and 

39 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

the tracing of pedigrees and establishing of dates 
was a tedious undertaking. 

In the announcement of the 1884 catalogue 
Mr. Hamlin briefly outlined his " theory of breed- 
ing/' as he called it, in these words ; 

mr. hamlin's theory of breeding. 

" My great aim in breeding is to combine speed 
with size, soundness, style and elegance of form. 
In the pursuit of this object I have weeded from 
the list the mares which have not produced foals 
up to the standard, and the stallions have been 
selected with the greatest care." 

Speaking of weeding out I might mention that 
a great deal of it was done at Village Farm. If a 
stallion colt was not up to the standard he was 
gelded. If a colt came crooked we knew it was 
the mare's fault. The colt was killed and the 
mare sold. 

Speaking of these brood-mares Mr. Hamlin, in 
his 1884 catalogue, published the following 
opinion : 

THE BROOD-MARE'S IMPORTANCE. 

" The brood-mares cover every branch of the 
explored field. Every line of demonstrated worth 
has been given a place in the collection. As I 
wish to stamp out, instead of to perpetuate, in- 
firmities, no mare has been purchased or retained, 
regardless of fashionable breeding, which has a 
blemish of a constitutional character. I believe 
that the brood-mare is an important factor in the 

40 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

problem of reproduction, and so I have given as 
much thought to her selection as to that of the 
stallion. 

" I do not see how I can fail, by grafting the 
best qualities of one family upon the best qualities 
of another family, to produce a superior breed of 
horses. I believe in giving to the foal the capacity 
to trot young, but I am opposed to the abuse of 
this capacity. I shall not, as a rule, impose a 
strain upon the colts which the joints and liga- 
ments are in no condition to sustain, therefore 
few reports of fast trials of yearlings and two- 
year-olds will go out from Village Farm. The 
man who waits upon a colt until it matures will 
have the satisfaction of owning an animal able to 
stand the wear and tear of the road and track.' ' 



BEAUTY AND SPEED. 

Mr. Hamlin was continually preaching, through 
his catalogues and the public prints, his doctrine 
of combining beauty and speed. In his 1885 
catalogue he says : 

" The get of a very large percentage of the plain 
trotting stallions now in use in this country have 
no speed, and, being without beauty or other 
attractive qualities, can be marketed only for 
street railroad and other ordinary purposes at 
prices that do not pay the breeder one-half what 
it costs to raise them. This is the cause of a great 
number of breeders becoming disgusted with the 
business/' 

41 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

In the 1 89 1 catalogue he had more to say on the 
same subject : 

" I wish briefly to direct attention to a few 
points which, in my judgment, are of the greatest 
moment to the breeding world. The crowning 
ambition of every breeder is to produce a perfect 
horse, but it is evident to careful observers that 
much must be accomplished before the hope is 
realized. Progress is not dead, but some breeders 
are more progressive than others. The cardinal 
points in the make-up of a perfect horse are 
beauty, size, strength, endurance, intelligence, 
speed and balance. The absence of any of these 
points would cause the animal to fall short of the 
standard of perfection.' ' 

DEVELOPED SIRES. 

About this time Mr. Hamlin became convinced 
that hard-racing campaigns sap the vitality of a 
stallion and make him undesirable for a stock 
horse. These views, when they appeared in the 
Turf, Field and Farm, were widely criticised. 
He continued the controversy in his 1888 cata- 
logue in which he says : 

" All breeders are more or less rivals, each being 
anxious to excel the other. This being the case, 
I feel privileged to say a few words about the 
claims put forward by the owners of other stal- 
lions, especially those stallions with fast records. 
I combat the theory that stallions with low records 
are of the highest value for breeding purposes. I 
contend that the fastest and gamest performers 

42 




H 
O 

g 

5 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

are not likely to come from them. It is beyond 
dispute that a horse which trots race after race 
passes through a vitality-sapping ordeal. The 
stallion that is trained, season after season, for 
the purpose of forcing him down to the lowest 
record made, goes through a continual strain which 
necessarily takes from him something of the vigor 
so important to the highest results in the stud. 
The hard work of the track causes a waste of the 
vital force, so much needed in perfect stock-get- 
ting. I believe that the stallion which is over- 
worked for the sake of a record has his ability for 
reproducing speed weakened instead of increased, 
and to show my sincerity on this point, to prove 
my faith by my words, I offer the following chal- 
lenge : 

A CHALLENGE. 

11 I will trot this coming season heats, best two 
in three, under the rules of the National Trotting 
Association, over any good mile track, as con- 
venient to reach by both parties as possible, four 
of the get of Mambrino King (an undeveloped 
stallion), foaled in 1885, bred, raised, devel- 
oped and owned at Village Farm, against any 
four of the same age, bred, raised, developed and 
owned by the owner of any stallion having a 
record of 2.22 or better, the said four to have been 
sired after the stallion had obtained his fastest 
record. I will make each of the four races for 
from one to one thousand dollars a side, and I would 
prefer that the challenge be accepted by the owner 

43 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

of Phallas (2.13%), or the owner of Jerome Eddy 
(2.163^). Both of the stallions named are fast, 
but up to the present time I have been unable to 
discover that either has sired a trotter. I am 
willing, however, to go on a voyage of discovery, 
and my proposition cannot be deemed one-sided, 
for the reason that both stallions have a large 
number of colts of the proper age from which 
their owners, who employ first-class trainers, can 
make selections. If the theory is sound that a 
horse which has trotted a wonderfully fast mile 
should necessarily get very fast stock, the advan- 
tage should be with Phallas and Jerome Eddy, 
because they have the fastest records and have 
been serving mares for several years past at high 
prices. For the good of the trotting community, 
as well as for those breeding with the hope of 
getting a trotter, I think it time that the bubble, 
so full of deceptive ideas, should be pricked.' ' 

How this challenge was received is best told 
by Mr. Hamlin himself in his 1889 catalogue : 

" This direct and business-like proposition 
stirred up a series of cyclones throughout the 
country, and although many counter-proposi- 
tions were made by the owners of developed stal- 
lions, not one of these had the courage to accept 
my challenge. The four three-year-olds by Mam- 
brino King, upon which I depended, did not dis- 
appoint me. Every one showed the ability to 
trot in from 2.25 to 2.35. One trotted a trial in 
2.26, and the other two trotted in 2.31. Mam- 
brino King is all I have claimed him to be." 

44 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

SELECTING BROOD-MARES. 

Mr. Hamlin was not only a non-believer in tin- 
cup records, but did not consider it necessary to 
race a mare in order to make a successful brood- 
mare. He thought nothing of stopping us work- 
ing our best fillies and ordering them to be placed 
in the harem. For that reason most of Village 
Farm's fastest performers were stallions or geld- 
ings. 

On many an occasion have the Village Farm 
trainers been actually sickened when prospective 
2.10 trotters were taken from their strings to be 
placed in the brood-mare ranks. 

A PREDICTION. 

Mr. Hamlin took great pleasure in making pre- 
dictions in his catalogues, almost all of which 
were fulfilled. The most important one appeared 
in his catalogue for 1891 : 

4 'While it is dangerous to make predictions, and 
while I realize that the whole world is in compe- 
tition, I wish it recorded that there are now on 
Village Farm a number of youngsters that will 
score lower marks in contested races than have 
heretofore been made by any trotter, living or 
dead." 

Several world's champions afterwards appeared 
to fulfil this prediction. 

11 THE PASSING OF VILLAGE FARM." 

Before leaving Village Farm to take up the 
practical side of this book, I wish to call atten- 

45 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

tion to what I consider the best eulogy written 
on this famous establishment. It was penned 
by Rev. Andrew M. Shea, of Ames, la., one of our 
patrons, and was published, I think, in the Spirit 
of the West, of Des Moines, la., but is deserving of 
a wider circulation. I am sorry there is not space 
here to print the entire article, excerpts from 
which follow : 

" Life is full of pathos. Change and decay 
characterize our journey between birth and judg- 
ment. In obedience to this principle everything 
advances, either in an increasing or a decreasing 
series. The solid granite gradually crumbles into 
dust; the tall oak of the forest is first a tender 
shoot, then a green sapling, until, ultimately, it is 
succeeded by decay. So with the institutions of 
man — they are first seen in the tenderness of in- 
fancy, then in the beauty of youth, then in the 
strength of maturity, till age steals on apace, 
impairing their beauty, wasting their freshness 
and destroying their strength, till, bowing under 
the weight of infirmities or ceasing to be among 
men, their day has become night and their mis- 
sion history. The experiences and enterprises 
of Leland Stanford, Robert Bonner and J. Mal- 
colm Forbes constitute personal illustrations of 
this transitory life. And now comes the announce- 
ment of the absolute dispersal of Village 
Farm, and though Mr. Cicero J. Hamlin, its dis- 
tinguished founder, at least as great, if not indeed 
the greatest Roman of them all, still lingers this 
side of the portals of the grave, it is appar- 

46 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

ent to his friends and to none more so than the 
great horseman himself that he too must soon 
join his colleagues in the invisible land, and herein, 
perhaps, more than anything else, lies the secret of 
' The Passing of Village Farm.'* 

" And what a farm it has been! What history 
it has made! How vastly different the records 
of the turf would read had Village Farm never 
had an existence! The list of men who have 
mixed brains with the founding of a stock farm 
and have carried the enterprise to successful con- 
summation, at least in the degree, as has Mr. 
Hamlin, is not large. Few men are entitled to 
start in his class. His judgment in selecting and 
handling Mambrino King and Chimes has been 
vindicated by their achievements. . . . 

" In the spring of 1903 the writer bade adieu 
to the dear ones of his Western home, climbed into 
a box car with our three-year-old filly, whose 
blood lines read like a poem and whose ancestors 
have distinguished themselves in the stud and 
on the track, and sped away to Village Farm. 
After the varied experiences incident to travel 
by freight we reached East Aurora, N. Y. We 
went to the depot 'phone and called up Village 
Farm, from which came the courteous reply, ' We 
will send for you and your mare immediately.' 
In due time came a man on horseback for the idol 
of our heart and the foundation of our dreams — 
dreams of a colt, a sale at a long price, and a trip 
to the Holy Land. Just behind him rode another 

*Mr. Hamlin died February 20, 1905, scarcely three weeks after the 
Village Farm dispersal sale. 

47 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

behind an attractive-looking pacer hitched to a 
top buggy. We were invited to a seat behind the 
pacer and in response to our inquiry, ' What's 
this you are driving?' the driver smiled and said, 
1 You are now riding behind Hal Pointer.' Con- 
fess, yes ; we can but be true. Our first impulse 
was to tip our hat and then get out and walk. 
Shades of the great ones! Had we not read and 
re-read the Hal Pointer-Direct duels? Had 
not our heart beat fast as the dailies told of his 
demonstrating to the world that a horse could 
pace in less than 2.05? Had we not said, ' I wish 
I could see him ' ? And behold, we were actually 
riding behind him. And notwithstanding Mr. 
Bradburn's most cordial welcome and the fact 
that we had had nothing warm to eat for four days, 
we actually stood on the office porch until the old 
hero had entered the barn. . . . Like the Queen 
of Sheba, who had heard the glories of Solomon, 
we, too, had heard of the greatness of Village 
Farm, but we confess in the language of the 
ancient queen, ' The half had not been told/ . . . 
However, as we are writing about the passing of 
things, we pause to note that it was here The 
Abbot struggled to get command of himself and, 
after succeeding, flew to the top and carried the 
world's record — a coveted crown — to the camp of 
his owner. But where is he? Gone! Passed for- 
ever! From this spot, a few days ago, we looked 
away to the hillside where rest the bones of old 
Hal Pointer. How are the mighty fallen, and now 
the entire plant is to become a thing of the past." 

48 



Chapter Three 
FOUNDING A STOCK FARM 

Location. — Soil. — Water. — Size of Farm. — Acres of 
Land per Head. — The Track. — Rules for Laying out Track. 
— The Cinder Track. — Paddocks. — Fencing. — Stables.— 
Main Barn. — Water in Paddock. — Brood-mare Shed. — The 
Farm Superintendent. 

AT this point I will take it for granted that 
I have satisfactorily explained to the reader 
who I am, have told as much of my history 
as he will be interested in knowing, have shown 
how my knowledge of horses was gained, and 
have described how that experience was applied 
to the management of Village Farm. 

With this in mind, I will presume to write 
several chapters of advice on the breeding and 
development of trotters, with advice on the man- 
agement of stock farms. I propose to begin at 
the very beginning and will devote this chapter 
to the founding of a stock farm. 

LOCATION. 

We will suppose that the reader contemplates 
starting in the breeding business and has come 
to that point where he must decide on the loca- 
tion of his stock farm, be it large or small. 

Those who are expecting a long-winded argu- 
ment on the climatic theory will be disappointed. 

49 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

In my opinion the main thing to be considered is 
to locate the farm within easy access of its owner's 
place of business. If the owner lives in a large 
city his farm should be at some point not farther 
away than thirty or forty minutes ' ride by rail. 
The farm should be so located that the owner can 
visit it often and at all seasons without tedious 
journeys, otherwise he is liable to lose interest 
and quit the business. 

The nearer the farm is to the railroad station 
the better, and the less expense the owner is put 
to in hauling supplies. This is an important 
factor. For every mile the cost of hauling in- 
creases expenses hundreds of dollars, according 
to the size of the plant, and this soon runs into 
thousands. 

The farm that is within ten or fifteen minutes' 
walk of the depot is admirably located. The 
owner, his friends, or visitors, can reach such a 
farm without a tiresome drive. Too many of our 
large stock farms are almost inaccessible. 

SOIL. 

In locating a stock farm at any particular 
point, if there is any choice of soil I would pre- 
fer it to be sandy or gravelly. The muddy season 
will be shorter and the grass will come earlier and 
stay later. Rolling, but not hilly, land has my 
preference. 

WATER. 

If possible there should be spring water on the 

5o 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

farm. It is the best water for man or beast to 
drink, and for both is the most pleasant and 
healthful. 

SIZE OF FARM. 

Now as to the size of the farm, that will depend 
on the amount of stock. If I were a millionaire 
I would never want over forty brood-mares and 
would prefer twenty. Twenty brood-mares will 
raise enough colts to keep a trainer busy. If you 
start on twenty mares, by the time your oldest 
foals are four years old you should have sixty- 
eight or seventy colts to keep your trainers 
occupied. 

After deciding on the number of brood-mares 
you wish to start with it will become necessary 
to determine how many acres of land will be 
required to support each mare. 

ACRES OF LAND PER HEAD. 

In New York State your mare will live on grass 
for about six months. Two acres of pasturage 
should keep her, and colt by side, for the season. 

During the winter months she will eat about 
fifteen pounds of hay per day, for six months, or 
about twenty-seven hundred pounds in all. In 
New York State one acre of land will raise this 
much hay or more each season. 

If you wish to raise your own oats, you will have 
to allow the mare more ground. During the six 
winter months she will be fed about six quarts of 
oats a day (in addition to bran, wheat, etc., as set 

Si 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

forth in chapter five), or about thirty-five bushels 
for the season. This will require, in New York 
State, seven-tenths of an acre of land. 

The straw from this land will provide enough 
bedding for your mare during the winter if your 
men are not wasteful. 

Sooner or later the colts will come on and you 
will need more land. We will suppose that you 
keep all the colts until they are two years old. 
This will give you the pleasure of breaking and 
driving them and developing their speed if they 
have any. In the long run you will make a larger 
net profit selling your colts as two-year-olds than 
at any other age. 

Now, to determine how much land will be 
needed to support the colts. The weanlings 
should have eight pounds of hay per day during 
the winter months or seven hundred pounds for 
the season. One quarter of an acre of land will 
keep the weanling in hay every season. When 
the yearlings come on they will eat almost as 
much hay as aged horses. The weanling will eat 
seven quarts of oats per day or forty bushels dur- 
ing the winter. Four-fifths of an acre of ground 
will raise enough oats for the weanling. The 
yearlings will eat the same amount during the 
breaking season and following winter. One and 
three-fifths acres will raise the oats needed for 
this purpose. After your oldest foals are year- 
lings, in order to be prepared to support your 
mare, her weanling and her yearling up to the 
spring of its two-year-old form, you must have 

52 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

seven and one-half acres of land for each mare you 
started with, figured as follows : 

Two acres in pasturage for mare; one acre in 
hay for mare; seven-tenths acre in oats for the 
mare; one-fourth acre in hay for the weanling; 
one acre in hay for the yearling ; four-fifths acres 
of oats for the weanling ; one and three-fifths acres 
of oats for the yearling. 

Of course if you keep your colts after the spring 
of their two-year-old form you will need more 
land, but the above figures give you a basis to 
work on. 

THE TRACK. 

After the farm is purchased the plot should be 
selected on which to lay out either a mile or a half- 
mile track. If possible this should be located 
somewhere within sight of the public highway. 
It is a good advertisement for the farm, besides 
giving it a " ready-for-business " appearance. 
With the track so located visitors will not have 
to go to a distant part of the farm to see the horses 
work. 

I prefer that the track be laid out on low ground 
if convenient. By doing this you get away from 
the high winds, the soil is usually soft and spongy, 
and the track does not get hard. 

RULES FOR LAYING OUT TRACKS. 

For reference, the rules for laying out tracks are 
here inserted : 

To lay out a half-mile track, lay off two straight 
sides, six hundred feet each (parallel) and four 

53 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

hundred and fifty-two feet four and three-eighths 
inches apart, connected at each end with a per- 
fect semi-circle (radius two hundred and twenty- 
six feet, two and three-sixteenths inches). Place 
the fence exactly upon a line so formed (which is 
the inside of the track), and the track will measure 
exactly half a mile three feet from the inside fence, 
to be placed according to the width of the track 
desired. Thirteen acres will be required for a 
half-mile track thirty feet wide, fifteen acres for 
a half-mile track sixty feet wide. 




/7> ffJL S!Tf>€k JWffft 






ps.m »r A J*//.r Tf/irft 




If not convenient to obtain an engineer to run 
the curve, it can be done as follows : Place a 
stake midway between the parallel straight lines 
at each end ; take a wire with the loop at the end, 
loose enough to turn upon the stake, and measure 
upon this wire two hundred and thirty-six feet 
two and three sixteenths inches (the radius of the 
curve), which from the centre stake will exactly 
reach the ends of the straight lines ; then describe 
a semi-circle, beginning at the end of one side, 



54 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

putting down a stake every twelve feet, if this is 
the length of the fence panels desired. 

To lay out a full mile track, select a level field 
of forty-two acres ; draw through the center of it a 
straight line of four hundred and forty yards (a 
quarter of a mile). On each side of this line, and 
an exact distance of one hundred and forty yards 
two inches from it, draw parallel lines of equal 
length, so that the space between the two outer lines 
will be two hundred and eighty yards, four inches. 

This being done, a stake should be driven at 
each end of the centre line ; a cord should be fas- 
tened thereto. Extend the cord at right angles 
for one hundred and forty yards two inches, until 
it touches the end of the outer line, and then 
describe with the extreme end of the cord an outer 
curve or semi-circle between the ends of the two 
outer lines. There will be a continuous outer line, 
being exactly a mile (one thousand seven hundred 
and sixty yards) in length, and requiring an en- 
closure of forty-six acres of ground. From this 
outer line or track, set the fence of the course 
three feet in on the straight sides and curves. In 
this way an exact mile (as near as may be) is pre- 
served for the actual foot track of all the horses. 
The first distance post is sixty yards from the 
judges' stand, the second is two hundred and 
forty yards, and the stand is sixty yards before 
entering the turn. The track should be graded 
around the turn like the track of a railroad or 
circus, the outer portion highest, so that a horse 
can extend himself at full speed. 

55 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

THE CINDER TRACK. 

A cinder track should be built inside of the 
main track, about three-eighths of a mile in cir- 
cumference, with turns well thrown up. The 
track should be from fifteen to twenty feet wide 
and fenced on both sides. This makes a minia- 
ture track for leading and breaking colts and jog- 
ging in muddy weather when you cannot get onto 
your main track. 

PADDOCKS. 

In dividing your farm and in fencing remember 
to have plenty of paddocks from one to five acres — 
different sizes for different purposes. 

Most farms have a large pasture-field for their 
brood-mares. I prefer dividing them into lots 
or pasture-fields of not over ten acres. If there 
is no shade in the pastures then trees should be 
set out in order to afford the mares protection 
from sun, storms and flies. In some of the brood- 
mare pastures you will want small feeding pad- 
docks for the colts, as mentioned in chapter five. 

To lay out the farm in the most convenient 
manner, a road should be built through the center 
so that the owner, his family, his friends or vis- 
itors, can drive about the farm and see all the 
horses without wasting a lot of time driving 
through the fields. 

FENCING. 

As to fencing, never allow any barbed wire on 
the place. A board fence, five feet high, is the 

56 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

best. I prefer sixteen-foot boards with posts set 
eight feet apart and three and a half feet in the 
ground. The fence should be capped with a six- 
inch board. The posts should be of cedar, chest- 
nut or second-growth oak, which I fancy in the 
order named. A fence properly built will last 
twenty-five years. There should be good, strong 
gates connecting the lots. 

STABLES. 

When the time comes to build stables you will 
probably first build your main barn. Later, if 
you have a large number of colts to train, it will 
be necessary to build a training barn near the 
track. When it comes time to build this barn 
locate it where visitors are least likely to visit it 
and bother your men. 

MAIN BARN. 

The main barn on the largest farms should con- 
tain from thirty to thirty-six stalls. Sixteen 
stalls are enough for one training barn to contain. 

In the main barn there should be a hallway, 
twenty feet wide, of yellow clay that will pack 
solid and clean. This is the most sanitary floor- 
ing. The barn should be light, airy and well 
ventilated. If possible, it should be lighted by 
electricity, with gas as second choice. If this 
cannot be done lanterns will have to be used. 
Establish a rule on the farm that no lanterns 
shall be carried about unless absolutely necessary. 
Enforce this rule as a precaution against fire. 

57 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

Allow no smoking or lighting of matches in the 
barn. The evening feeding should be done before 
dark so that it will not be necessary to use lan- 
terns. 

The stalls should be of different sizes, for in- 
stance, twelve by fourteen, twelve by twelve, ten 
by twelve, while a few eight by twelve stalls may 
be built for weanlings. 

Everything should be arranged as conveniently 
as possible. The grain and bran bins should be 
so placed overhead that the feed will not have 
to be carried long distances. Water hydrants 
should be so located that water will not have to 
be carried any further away than three stalls. 
This makes it easier for the men, is time saved, 
that means money and affords increased fire 
protection. 

The main barn should contain an office or wait- 
ing room for the owner and visitors, and adjoin- 
ing working office where the records may be kept. 

I present herewith plans of what I consider an 
ideal main barn for a stock farm, except that I 
would prefer it from four to six feet higher, in 
order to have more room for hay. 

As to building material, that depends upon 
how much architectural beauty is desired. I 
prefer a wooden barn to one of stone or brick 
because it is drier. 

WATER IN PADDOCKS. 

I have previously mentioned the importance 
of good water. There should be running water, 

58 




3 

I 



cz 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

spring water if possible, in all lots and paddocks. 
The troughs should be eight to twelve feet long 
and about sixteen inches deep. A large trough 
is better than a small one, because it does not 
become heated so quickly in summer. Pine 
wood makes the best troughs. The tops should 
be covered with tin, zinc, or galvanized iron, so 
that the horses will not eat the wood. The troughs 
should be well painted. They will look neater 
and last longer. 

BROOD-MARE SHEDS. 

We now come to the brood-mare barn. No 
matter how much money I might have, and even 
if able to build an expensive brood-mare barn, I 
would build sheds and winter the mares that way. 
With this arrangement the mare gets out at all 
times during the winter and takes her natural 
exercise. On account of this exercise she will 
have stronger and straighter foals than otherwise 
and the mare is less liable to be injured as she 
sometimes is when passing through stall doors. 
During the last fifteen years at Village Farm the 
mares were wintered in sheds and we were very 
successful with them. One spring there were 
one hundred and two brood-mares on the farm, 
many of them outside mares left to be wintered. 
Out of this number one hundred and one had 
foals. This success was in no small degree due 
to the care they received at the hands of Michael 
and Joseph Fisher, now of Snydersville, N. Y. 
When mares are kept in sheds it makes less work 

62 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

for the brood-mare men. One winter at Village 
Farm one man looked after seventy-eight 
mares. 

The brood-mare shed should vary in length 
according to the number of mares to be housed. 
Allow ten feet to each mare. The shed should, 
ordinarily, open to the east, thus the mares will 
get full benefit of the morning sun and be pro- 
tected from the prevailing winds. Local weather 
conditions might alter this plan and the stable 
open preferably to the south or southwest. A 
manger should be built the entire length of the 
shed. It should be twenty-four inches wide at 
the bottom, forty inches wide at top, thirty-six 
inches high. The manger should be made of 
plank, built tight to hold grain, and should be 
raised about eighteen inches from the ground. 
On each side of the posts supporting the front of 
the shed should be nailed a triangular piece of 
plank, four feet, high and twelve inches wide, the 
base of the triangle resting on the ground. This 
keeps the mares away from the posts and there is 
less danger of their injuring their hips. 

On the south end of the shed ten box stalls, 
fourteen by fourteen, should be built. These 
may be used either in foaling or for sick mares, 
which need immediate attention, or for cross 
mares. 

In front of the shed should be a yard extending 
three hundred feet to the fence. Of course there 
will be a trough in the yard so mares can drink 
whenever they desire. 

6 3 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

THE FARM SUPERINTENDENT. 

Now, unless you are a practical horseman, or 
even if you once were a horseman and your knowl- 
edge of horses has been lying dormant for years 
while you were accumulating a share of the world's 
goods, the next thing for you to do will be to select 
your farm superintendent. 

You will be besieged with applications for the 
position and you may gain the mistaken idea that 
a competent superintendent is easy to secure. 
The contrary is the case, which you will see by 
studying the superintendent's requirements, as 
set forth in detail in the chapter on " Manage- 
ment of Stock Farms." 

A farm that has been laid out as directed will 
come close to being an ideal one. Naturally, 
there are minor details which can best be left to 
the owner's good judgment. 



Chapter Four 
THE STALLION 

Purchasing a Premier — Over-developed Sires. — Concrete 
Examples. — Almont Jr. — Almonarch. — Natural Speed. — 
Blood Lines. — The Stallion's Sire — The Stallion's Dam. — 
The Stallion's Individuality. — My Ideal Stallion. — Trotter vs. 
Pacer. — Shall the Stallion be Raced ? — The Stud Season. — 
Care of Stallion. — Feeding. — Covering the Mare. — The Breed- 
ing Pen. — Trial Sheet and Stud Book. 

AFTER having selected a site for your stock 
farm, purchased the land, laid out the 
track and built the stables, you are ready 
to appear before the world as a breeder. You 
will be warmly welcomed, for horsemen are loyal 
to one another. The turf press, to encourage you 
and perhaps in anticipation of your becoming one 
of their advertising patrons, will say nice things 
about you. Everything will look rosy, but your 
troubles have just begun. 

PURCHASING A PREMIER. 

After engaging your superintendent, if you are 
to have one, the next thing to do is to purchase a 
stallion to head your stud. 

You will have many advisers anxious to assist 
you in making your selection. If the advice 
comes from experienced horsemen, give it heed, 
but do not hesitate to exercise your own judg- 

6 5 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

ment, for you are now at a very critical point in 
your career as a breeder. 

If you make a mistake in selecting your stal- 
lion and his produce fail to fulfil your expecta- 
tions, it will mean a loss of time and money, and 
be a matter of constant regret. If you do make 
a mistake in your stallion dispose of him as soon 
as you discover it, rather than hang on, hoping 
against hope, and finally becoming so disap- 
pointed as to cause you to give up in disgust. 

OVER-DEVELOPED SIRES. 

Above all things, do not join that mad scramble 
of young breeders anxious to secure a stallion that 
has been prominently before the public as a rac- 
ing machine for several seasons. Such racing has 
sapped his vitality and has taken from him some- 
thing nature cannot replace. It is sometimes 
advisable to race a stallion one year so that the 
public may decide whether or not he is game, 
good-gaited and has speed to transmit. The stal- 
lion should not be raced hard during this one 
season. Two or three good races are sufficient. 

Before continuing my advice on the selection 
of the stallion, let me say that my views against 
severely campaigned stallions as stock horses are 
very decided and have been gained through 
actual experience. 

CONCRETE EXAMPLES — ALMONT JR. 

The year following Almont Jr.'s retirement 
from the turf, after being almost drilled to death, 

66 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

he got only forty per cent of his mares with foal. 
The following season the percentage was sixty 
and the next year seventy per cent, and in time 
he became a sure foal getter, which he had been 
previous to his hard racing campaign. Later, 
when his produce came on, it did not surprise me 
to find that his best performers were sired before 
his severe training and racing season, although he 
attracted the best mares after his reputation as a 
race-horse was established. The good performers 
that were sired after his retirement were foaled 
several years after the severe campaign of 1881. 
The following is the list of Almont Jr.'s fastest 
performers gotten before 1881, with the year 
indicated in which the dam of each was covered, 
viz., Belle Hamlin (2.12%), 1878; Globe (2.14%), 
1880; Maud T. (2.19^), 1876 and Justina (2.20), 
(2.13 to pole), 1878. The following is the list of 
the fastest performers gotten by Almont Jr. after 
I881 : Wardwell (2.15), 1882; Ovid (3) (2.15K), 
1888 ',Glendennis(2.ij}i) y 1885 ; Play Boy (2.18^), 
1884, and Lucretia (2.20), 1884. 

ALMONARCH. 

I noticed the same thing in connection with 
Almonarch (2.24%). His season of 1883 on the 
Grand Circuit was a severe one, and most of his 
races were long-drawn-out affairs. In 1885 I had 
him in charge and he was a well worn-out stallion. 
He was bred to forty-two mares and got but fifteen 
foals. The following season he stood on the farm 
of J, D, Yeomans, East Aurora, N, Y,, and I 

67 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

watched the outcome closely. He was bred to 
fifty odd mares and got about thirty foals. In 
1887 he was bred to sixty-two mares and got 
about forty-five foals. After that time, with rest 
and care, he proved as sure as the average stal- 
lion. Previous to his severe campaign he had 
been a very sure foal getter. The dam of Topsey 
(2.093^), Almonarch's fastest trotter, was covered 
twelve years after his retirement. Homora, the 
dam of Fantasy (2.06), and Satory, the dam of 
Mandolin (2.16) and grandam of Dare Devil (2.09), 
were both gotten in 1881, before the severe cam- 
paign. The register gives Satory as foaled in 
1884. This is incorrect, she was foaled in 1882. 
Her dam, Mollie O, produced Golconda, by Mam- 
brino King, in 1884. 

Almont Jr. and Almonarch are two good ex- 
amples of the deteriorating effect a severe cam- 
paign has on a stallion for from three to five years 
afterwards. I know of a number of other stal- 
lions which could be cited as examples, but the 
reader may draw his own conclusions. Mention 
could be made of many hard-raced stallions to 
which breeders flocked, after those horses had 
made arduous Grand Circuit campaigns, that have 
not proved successful sires, or did not, until 
many seasons after their retirement from the turf. 
Of course there are exceptions to all rules and 
once in a while you will run across a fast trotter 
gotten by an over-developed sire soon after his 
retirement from the turf. Such a trotter is often 
found to be from a mare of great vitality or was 

68 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

sired by a sluggish horse which would not, of his 
own accord, race to his limit and would thus save 
himself some. 

The experience gained from watching the pro- 
duce of Almont Jr. and Almonarch after their 
severe campaigns was of great interest to Mr. C. J. 
Hamlin. After studying the matter he became 
so prejudiced against developed sires (by that he 
meant those raced excessively) that he never hesi- 
tated to express his views in print, as has been 
noted in a previous chapter. 

I have wandered somewhat from my subject, 
but I consider this phase of the breeding problem 
important. It is something to consider in select- 
ing your premier stallion. 

NATURAL SPEED. 

Do not understand me to mean that because I 
do not fancy over-developed sires I do not want 
speed in a stallion. I want all the natural speed 
I can get, the more the better, for if a stallion 
does not have natural speed he cannot transmit 
it to his progeny. As previously stated, in order 
to satisfy the public I do not object to a stallion's 
speed being developed up to a certain point. 

BLOOD LINES. 

Having decided whether or not you want a 
developed sire you must give some attention to 
the blood lines of the different stallions which you 
have in mind. 

6 9 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

I would not presume to limit you to any par- 
ticular blood line for there are many successful 
strains. 

THE STALLION'S SIRE. 

I prefer the sire of a stallion to be a horse known 
to possess great natural speed and descended from 
a line of stallions known to possess great natural 
speed. If the sire of the horse which you are con- 
sidering was raced severely and campaigned to 
death, I advise you to make sure his son was 
gotten either before his severe campaigns or from 
three to five years after his retirement from the 
turf. The sire of your stallion, if old enough, 
should be a successful producer of speed, and in 
all events descended from a line of successful 
producers of speed. By a successful speed-pro- 
ducing sire I do not mean a horse that has sired 
a large number in the 2.30 list with but a small 
percentage of good race-horses, nor a sire that has 
sired just one or two fast performers. A truly 
successful sire is one that gets a fair proportion 
of speed from every crop of colts. The best way 
to compare sires is by the amount of money their 
produce win at the races. The time is bound to 
come when more attention will be given to statis- 
tics in this direction and less attention will be 
paid to the number of a horse's 2.30 or 2.20 per- 
formers. The sire of your stallion should be a 
beautiful horse and the sire of beautiful horses. 
The farther back the stallion's paternal ancestors 
have combined beauty and speed the better. 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

If you find a stallion that fulfils requirements 
on the sire's side you must turn to his dam. 

THE STALLION'S DAM. 

The stallion's dam should be a beautiful show 
mare known to possess great natural speed. The 
farther back her direct maternal ancestors fulfil 
the same requirements, the better. I do not 
object to a mare that has been raced enough to 
demonstrate to the public that she has speed, and 
thus benefit her sire and dam ; in fact, I prefer it. 
However, my objections to over-developed dams 
are as deep rooted as my objections to over- 
developed sires. 

The dam of your stallion should be as nearly a 
perfect individual as possible. If choosing for 
myself I would want her to be like my ideal brood- 
mare which I describe in the following chapter. 
If the dam of the stallion under consideration is 
old enough, her produce should have shown 
speed. If the stallion is from a young and untried 
mare I should prefer him to be her first or second 
foal. In the long run these are a mare's best 
foals. This subject is treated more in detail in 
the next chapter. The previous remarks as to 
the pedigree of the sire of your stallion can be 
applied to the pedigree of his dam. 

THE STALLION'S INDIVIDUALITY. 

If from your original list of available stallions 
you have found one that fulfils the pedigree re- 
quirements you must pass on to his individuality. 

7* 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

As to size I prefer a stallion about 15. 2, but, all 
other things being satisfactory, his size might 
range anywhere from 15. 1 to 16 hands. The 
majority of the most successful sires stand about 
15.2 hands. Only a small percentage of the 16- 
hand stallions become great sires. There are too 
many blanks at that height. A comparison in 
the human race is the weight of the greatest men, 
more of them weighing one hundred and fifty 
pounds than two hundred pounds. 

The stallion should have a beautiful masculine 
look in all his actions; an impressive, clean-cut 
head and a long neck, with great width between 
expressive eyes. The eyes I prefer to be hazel- 
colored. He should be full-chested, well-muscled 
and carry a beautiful waterspout tail at all times. 
In color of coat I prefer a seal brown. There are 
fewer blanks in that color. The next colors in 
order of preference are dark chestnut (not sorrel), 
bay and black. 

I prefer as little white marking as possible, 
although there are many good horses with white 
legs. I do not object to a star and hind ankles 
white. Many people object to a great deal of 
white about a horse because such animals are hard 
to mate. Others object to white hoofs, but I con- 
sider that nonsense. I do not think white hoofs 
are any more brittle or thin-shelled than black 
ones. You find such hoofs of both colors. 

The stallion should have plenty of substance 
and be a horse of quality. He should have good 
bone, the very best of legs and feet and perfect 

72 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

hocks. I insist on strong hocks for they are 
usually a horse's weakest point. There are three 
things my ideal stallion must possess : good looks, 
good eyes, and good hocks. 

As to action the stallion must have plenty of it, 
a nice round stroke, but he must not be choppy 
gaited. The greatest trouble with many trotters 
is, they have not action enough in front to get out 
of the way of their hind feet. There is some- 
thing impressive about a horse with an even, 
unchangeable stride. 

The stallion should have plenty of natural 
speed, so that he may be hitched at any time, go 
out for a brush and show within a notch or two 
of his speed without making any fuss about it or 
asking to be excused. 

MY IDEAL STALLION. 

My requirements may be very exacting, but if 
they are satisfied the horse will be nearly per- 
fect. The horse which in my experience came 
nearest filling the bill was Prince Regent (2.16^ 
to high wheels). He was a son of Mambrino 
King and the first foal of Estabella, the dam of 
Heir-at-Law (2.05%), etc. Prince Regent died 
in the spring of his seven-year-old form, just pre- 
vious to commencing his stud season. Sixty- 
four mares had been booked to him that year at 
five hundred dollars. He sired twenty-three 
foals, of which nine have standard records averag- 
ing 2.16, including Bright Regent (2.06 }4), Emily 
(2.1 1), etc. 

73 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

Had he lived I think Prince Regent would have 
been one of the greatest sires the world has ever 
known. Village Farm refused offers of fifty 
thousand dollars for him on two different occa- 
sions. 

TROTTER VS. PACER. 

It will be noticed that in speaking of the stal- 
lion to head a newly established farm I have men- 
tioned only a trotter because where a man wishes 
to purchase but one stallion I would advise buy- 
ing a trotter. You can secure better paying 
patronage with a trotting stallion and you will 
get enough pacers from him. So many breeders 
give you that knowing smile when you speak of 
breeding to a pacing stallion. The good trotters 
are harder to get, and they are better liked by 
wealthy patrons, who support the breeding in- 
dustry. 

SHALL THE STALLION BE RACED? 

After purchasing the stallion you must decide 
whether or not to race him. I have given my 
reasons for not wishing a horse to be raced ex- 
cessively and said that it is advisable sometimes 
to race the stallion one season in order that the 
public may have a chance to judge of his gameness 
and speed. If you are to race the stallion, place 
him in the hands of a competent trainer. Do not 
try to economize at this point and give him to a 
cheaper, but less experienced, man, who may 
injure your horse for life. Do not race the horse 
too hard, even in the one season you are to cam- 

74 




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BREEDING THE TROTTER 

paign him. Three or four good races are prefer- 
able to a season of ins and outs. You can escape 
a possible chance of racing-out your horse by 
giving him a time record, but this opens an oppor- 
tunity for the " knockers " to claim he is not 
game. 

THE STUD SEASON. 

We have now arrived at the stud season. If you 
have selected a good stallion there will be several 
outside brood-mare owners anxious to breed their 
mares to your horse and you should try to inter- 
est more. Many stallions pay for themselves in 
their first stud season. Remember that you are 
in the same position as a merchant with goods to 
sell and do not therefore be afraid to advertise 
judiciously. Always patronize a few of your 
local papers, including nearby horse papers, ac- 
cording to the good they can do you, and by all 
means advertise in at least one or two turf journals 
of national reputation. This keeps your horse 
before the general public, and will not only secure 
you enough extra mares to pay for your adver- 
tising but will augment the reputation of your 
stallion and increase the selling price of his colts, 
when they come on, and that is one of his best 
advertisements. Work every legitimate scheme 
to interest brood-mare owners, but do not 
" knock " the rival stallions. Enter every mare 
you breed in the futurities. Enter in all if you 
think you can afford it, if not, divide the entries 
among them. Ask your brood-mare patrons to 

75 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

enter their mares. The more mares in foal to 
your stallion that appear in the futurity entry 
books, the more advertising the horse receives. 
A futurity entry materially increases the value 
of the foal and the more high-priced colts by your 
horse that are sold, the quicker he reaches the top. 
Nothing helps a young stallion more than to have 
it known that you are breeding some of your best 
mares to him. You might as well find out from 
the first crop of foals whether your stallion is a 
success or not. 

CARE OF STALLION. 

In preparing the stallion for the stud season 
he should be jogged every day except Sunday, 
when he should be walked for half an hour and 
grazed when there is grass. The horse should 
be jogged early, before eight o'clock, so that he 
will be ready for visitors. 

My method of jogging stallions is to jog them 
four miles on Monday, eight on Tuesday, four on 
Wednesday, eight on Thursday, four on Friday, 
and eight on Saturday. This was the practice at 
Village Farm, where the stallions lived to a hale 
old age. 

I prefer that most of the time the stallion be 
jogged on the road, taking a different route on 
different days. Twice a week he should be jogged 
on the track. Let him brush through the stretch, 
say a quarter in thirty-four or thirty-five. seconds, 
but never urge or force him to his limit. Stal- 
lions like the brushing and delight in it. 

76 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

FEEDING. 

Great care should be taken in feeding all ani- 
mals, particularly stallions, which are more sen- 
sitive than mares or geldings. Horses should be 
fed very regularly. Feeding time should not vary 
ten minutes from a stated hour. The stomach is 
a sensitive organ and soon becomes educated to 
expect food at certain hours. If that expecta- 
tion is regularly gratified the animal thrives 
better. My method of feeding horses is : morn- 
ing feed at 5.45; noon feed at 11.45, an( i night 
feed at 5.30 in winter, 5.45 in summer. 

The amount of food to give a stallion, except 
during the stud season, is about three quarts of 
oats in the morning, two quarts of crushed oats 
and two quarts of bran at noon ; three quarts of 
boiled oats, one quart of bran and one tablespoon 
of oil meal at night. The stallion should have 
from fifteen to eighteen pounds of hay each day 
the year round. He should be given a light feed 
of hay (say five pounds) in the morning, the bal- 
ance in the evening. 

After the stud season commences, about March 
1, I add two quarts of boiled barley to the even- 
ing feed. The barley strengthens the stallion in 
flesh and semen and makes him a surer foal getter. 
During a heavy stud season mix a half dozen fresh, 
raw eggs with the evening feed. 

The stallion should be watered before feeding. 
Let him drink all he wants. Water him after 
feeding also. 

77 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 



COVERING THE MARE. 



We now come to the actual act of breeding. I 
advise that the stallion visit the mare after four 
o'clock in the afternoon, or even after six. It is 
quieter then, and neither mare nor stallion is 
so liable to become uneasy and excited. 

The stallion should be led to the breeding pen 
as quietly as possible, to avoid nervousness. 
Everything should be ready. Do not keep him 
waiting. I would advise hobbling the mare on 
all occasions in order to protect the horse from 
fright and accident. If the stallion is slow to 
cover he should be treated as set forth in chapter 
eleven. Treatment for masturbating is also 
given in the same chapter. 




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73 
CO 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

THE BREEDING PEN. 

Plans are presented herewith for what I con- 
sider an ideal breeding pen and one which allows 
the colt to be kept in front of its dam while she 
is being served. The colt's pen should be padded. 
By the use of bars in front of the mare the pen 
can be shortened or lengthened, according to her 
size. The inside of pen is one foot four inches 
wider at top than bottom. 

TRIAL SHEET AND STUD BOOK. 

Great care should be taken in transcribing the 
records of services. You should keep a trial sheet 
and a stud book. On preceding page is reproduced 
the form I prefer for a trial sheet. 

Enter every mare on the farm on the trial sheet 
and opposite each the name of the stallion to 
which she is to be bred. After the first service 
compute the next trial day, as explained in the 
following chapter, and enter it on the sheet, indi- 
cating the number of days that will have inter- 
vened since the service. For instance, if your 
mare was bred on March i, in column nineteen you 
should enter the word March, and the number 
eighteen to indicate that on March 19 the mare is 
to be tried, which will be eighteen days after 
being bred. If she refuses, then under column 
twenty-two you should enter the word March 
and the figure 21 to indicate that on March 22 
the mare is to be tried, which will be twenty-one 

81 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

days after being bred, and so on till the mare 
proves with foal. 

I prefer the following form of a stud book : 



THE IDEAL STOCK FARM 

EAST AURORA. N.T. 

RECORD OF MARJEg 



BrUtoSuO** 
Cmntrtfmtrt. 



-during ate mum «/_ 



























#**-,.,, - ..... h - — 


DATS OF EACH SERVICE. 

































































If the mare is an outsider furnish the owner 
with a duplicate of the above form, properly filled 
out, on the back of which is the following form : 

IMPORTANT 

M trier to insure /oat. it it ueastary that your mart bt tried at regular inbftalt, auording to tit ukedutr 

7*« —r. - Mrf h. *J~I — Ik, 



gg S\n\E TO TtULSBItVE THIS CERTIFICATE. 



82 



Chapter Five 
THE BROOD-MARE 

Best Way to Purchase Mares. — The Ideal Brood-Mare. — 
Pedigree. — Care. — Preparing for the Foal. — Care of Mare 
and Colt after Foaling. — Breeding the Mare. — Care of Mare 
and Colt in the Pasture. — Weaning the Colt. — Mare on Winter 
Diet. — Age at which to Breed. — Developed Mares. — Inbreed- 
ing. — Selecting a Mate. — First Impressions. — Importance of 
Natural Speed. 

HAVING founded your stock farm and pur- 
chased your stallion, let us now consider 
the purchase of brood-mares. 
As soon as it becomes known that you are in 
the market for mares you will be besieged with 
letters from brood-mare owners in such numbers 
that you may be led to the erroneous conclusion 
that all brood-mare owners are anxious to sell. 
If you " follow up " each letter you will lose much 
time and spend a considerable but useless amount 
in railroad fares, for it is inconceivable that every 
mare offered will suit you. 

BEST WAY TO PURCHASE MARES. 

In many respects the best way to purchase your 
brood-mares is at auction. By purchasing at 
auction you secure the mares at the public valua- 
tion ; you get them all at once, and are not put to 
the expense nor risk of shipping the mares to your 

83 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

farm from all parts of the country. If you con- 
clude to buy your mares at auction watch the sale 
announcements closely, especially dispersal an- 
nouncements of farms going out of existence, for 
their best mares, not the culls alone, will be 
offered. It is always advisable, if you are inter- 
ested in a particular consignment, to visit the 
farm about two weeks before the sale and look the 
mares over carefully. If you wait till a mare 
enters the sale ring you may, in the excitement 
of bidding, buy something you would not have 
purchased had you given her careful inspection. 

If you examine the mare at the farm you will 
probably have an opportunity to see some of her 
produce, the kind of gaited colts they are, the 
stallion she breeds best from, and will discover 
whether or not she is a regular breeder and a good 
brood-mare. 

With these preliminary remarks as to the man- 
ner of purchasing mares, I will pass to a consider- 
ation of the sort of mares most likely to prove 
successful as a producer of speed. 

THE IDEAL BROOD-MARE. 

My ideal brood-mare should stand from 15 to 
15.3 hands; should have a clean-cut head, fine 
ears, and expressive and intelligent protruding 
eyes (not dull nor sunken), which indicate kind- 
ness and will-power, — ideal traits in a brood-mare. 
The neck and throttle should be clean-cut. I pre- 
fer a neck of medium length, neither too long nor 
too short. The shoulders should not be straight, 

84 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

but oblique and heavily muscled. The legs 
should be flat and fluted, skin not too thick, and 
feet good. The mare should stand perfectly 
straight both in front and behind. She should 
have a deep chest. Her back should be short ; her 
barrel roomy and well ribbed; her quarters beau- 
tiful, smooth and round, with heavy muscles 
running well down to the hock. As in the stal- 
lion, it is important that the mare have the best 
possible hock, with no sign of coarseness. An 
ideal hind leg is one along the back of which a 
straight edge could be laid so as to bring the hock, 
pastern and point of ankle in the same straight 
line. The mare should carry the same beautiful 
tail advocated in the previous chapter. In gen- 
eral conformation the mare should be full but 
neither too heavy nor too light. 

PEDIGREE. 

As to her pedigree, the remarks on the stallion's 
blood lines are applicable here. It might be added, 
however, that a mare that is a member of what 
is known as a " brood-mare family " that is, a 
mare with a direct line of productive maternal 
ancestors, stands a better chance than any other 
of becoming a successful producer herself. 

CARE. 

After securing your mares you should see that 
great pains are taken to care for them properly 
while on their way to your farm and after their 

. 85 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

arrival. The better health the brood-mare enjoys 
the better foal she will produce. She should be 
kept in the best possible condition the year round. 
By that I do not mean that she should carry a lot 
of flesh, because a fleshy mare is liable to cramp 
her foal and it will come small, crooked and weak. 
There is a happy medium. I prefer to have the 
mare a trifle thin than too fleshy. 

The care of a brood-mare is not a subject that 
can be treated at random. We must start at 
some period of her existence and follow her 
through a year of the attention she requires. It 
would be natural, perhaps, to start with the act 
of mating her with the stallion and follow her 
through a year till she foals. However, I intend 
to treat the mare from a standpoint slightly dif- 
ferent. So many mares are purchased when 
already in foal that I shall take up the mare just 
previous to the time of foaling and speak of the 
care she and the colt should receive up to the time 
the foal is weaned. At this point the weanling 
will be dropped and its further care treated in 
another chapter. I will continue with the mare, 
however, during the winter up to the point when 
she is again ready to foal. In the proper place 
mention will also be made of the correct time, 
after the mare has foaled (nine days), to breed her 
again. I will also outline the method of trying 
mares in practice at Village Farm. After these 
practical points have been covered I will devote 
a little attention to some of the general theories 
of breeding. 

86 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

PREPARING FOR THE FOAL. 

When the time approaches for the brood-mare 
to produce her foal a box stall sixteen feet square 
should be bedded down for her, with the bedding 
a little higher around the edges of the stall than 
elsewhere. The sides of the stall should be per- 
fectly smooth. There should be no hay rack, 
while the feed box should be detachable and taken 
out after each meal. As the day of foaling ap- 
proaches the mare should be fed moderately. 

The mare should be taken up and placed in a 
stall at about ten months and twenty-five days 
after being bred. 

The period of gestation varies. As a rule old 
mares carry their foals longer than young mares. 
One mare on the Village Farm carried her foal 
twelve months and fifteen days. The period of 
gestation often varies in families and is a char- 
acteristic thereof. Estabella, and most of her 
descendants under my observation, produced at 
just eleven months. The average period is com- 
puted by various authorities at from eleven 
months and ten days to eleven months and twenty 
days. 

About forty-eight hours before foaling, the 
mare's udder will fill up, wax will form on the 
nipples and it will be plainly noticed that the 
pelvis has relaxed. When the mare reaches this 
condition an attendant should remain with her, 
in order to render any assistance the mare may 
require in foaling and to help the colt to its feet 

87 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

so that it may suckle if it be too weak to do so 
unaided. 

CARE OF MARE AND COLT AFTER FOALING. 

Shortly after the colt arrives it should suckle or 
if too weak should be assisted to do so, for the first 
nourishment will strengthen the colt very much. 
After the colt is once able to stand on its feet alone 
and suckle the next thing is to make sure that its 
bowels are working regularly. If you find they 
are constipated you will have to make an injec- 
tion of warm water and sweet oil, proportions one 
ounce of the sweet oil to about one quart of water. 

After foaling,, the "after birth " should be placed 
in a basket kept purposely for this use, carried at 
least ten rods away from all stables, sprinkled 
with quicklime and buried. 

In case of abortion the mare should be removed 
to a separate stable distant from other mares. 
Her hind parts and tail should be washed with 
soap and a solution of two gallons of warm water, 
two ounces of creoline and one-quarter ounce of 
carbolic acid. The aborted foal should be buried 
with quicklime. Be very careful when this is 
done. A careless employee at Village Farm 
once buried aborted twins in a manure pile 
and before his carelessness was discovered some 
forty odd mares had lost their foals. 

In the morning after foaling, for this generally 
takes place at night, the stable should be thor- 
oughly cleaned and disinfected with creoline or 
carbolic acid. The bedding should be removed 

88 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

and fresh bedding laid down after sprinkling the 
floor with air-slaked lime. From this time, and 
for the next three weeks, the stall and bedding 
should be kept scrupulously clean, lest the colt 
have navel trouble. Navel trouble is caused by 
the colt coming in contact with the filthy straw 
in struggling about to get up. If the colt is 
affected you will notice, when it is a few days old, 
that it acts dull and is sore and stiffened in cer- 
tain parts, such as knees, hips, or hocks. On 
examination you will find there is a leakage from 
the navel cord. In this event the colt should be 
treated at once, as set forth in chapter eleven. 

Within twenty-four hours after the mare drops 
her foal, and before she is allowed to come in con- 
tact with other mares, her tail and all under parts 
should be thoroughly washed with a solution of 
warm water and creoline or carbolic acid. 

When the colt is from seven to nine days old it 
may be troubled with scours or dysentery caused 
by the mare coming in heat. If this occurs keep 
both mare and colt as quiet as possible. Give the 
mare Humphrey's Specific AA until after the 
twelfth day and reduce her grain at least one-half. 
Give the foal Humphrey's Specific FF, also black- 
berry cordial, recipe and directions for use of which 
will be found in chapter eleven. The same condi- 
tion may be noticed when the mare comes in 
season at thirty days, but by this time the colt 
should be strong enough to go through the period 
without any ill effects. If the trouble should 
become chronic, however, take the mare from the 

89 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

pasture and keep her in a cool, quiet place and 
cut off her grain and feed her nice hay or grass 
from four to seven days till the colt's bowels are 
normal. 

As soon as the colt is strong enough, and if the 
weather is good, the mare and foal should be 
turned out in a paddock from one to two hours in 
the morning and between three and five o'clock 
in the afternoon. 

BREEDING THE MARE. 

If the mare and foal have had no mishaps the 
mare should be bred again on the ninth day after 
foaling. 

Take the mare to the breeding barn and find 
out by the aid of a teaser if she be in heat. Do 
not let the teaser annoy or excite her. If she is 
ready to breed let the stallion cover her. Keep 
both mare and stallion as quiet as possible, avoid- 
ing all excitement. Plans for a breeding pen, to 
hold mare and colt, were given in chapter four. 

It is better to have a place for the colt in the 
breeding pen in front of the mare. The colt is 
quieter than if kept alone or held by a man and 
the mare is quieter if she sees the colt in front of 
her. 

After the mare has been bred her next trial days 
are in succession, eighteen days after foaling, 
twenty-one days after foaling, twenty-five days 
after, thirty days after, thirty-three days after, 
thirty-seven days after, and forty two days after 
foaling. After this she should be tried on Tues- 

90 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

day and Friday or Saturday of each week till ten 
or twelve weeks have passed since breeding. The 
trials from the eighteenth to the thirty-third days 
after foaling are important ones. If the mare 
stands these trials it is safe to say that she is with 
foal. If the mare comes in season on any of these 
trial days she should be re-bred and the process 
of trying repeated. 

In case you have any trouble in getting the 
mare with foal and if it is feared that she may be 
barren she should be treated as mentioned in 
chapter eleven. 

CARE OF MARE AND COLT IN PASTURE. 

We will now return to the mare and her young 
colt. As soon as the weather is fit and the nights 
warm the mare and the colt should be turned into 
pasture. If the mare does not thrive that way 
she should be taken up at ten o'clock each morn- 
ing and fed two quarts of crushed oats mixed 
with two quarts of bran. She should also be 
given a small quantity of alfalfa or green corn. 
About three o'clock the mare should have a feed 
of from two to four quarts of the mixture already 
mentioned, without the green stuff. About five 
o'clock she should be turned back into the pasture 
for the evening. 

Too many mares should not be kept in one pas- 
ture. As mentioned in chapter three it is advis- 
able to divide them among ten-acre pasture lots 
rather than allow all of them to run together. 

Towards the middle of the summer the colts 

9i 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

will require additional nourishment to what they 
receive from their dams. As mentioned in chapter 
three, feeding paddocks will be necessary for the 
colts. They should be located in as high a spot 
as possible. The paddocks should be thirty-two 
feet long and sixteen feet wide. The pasture 
fence will form one side of the paddock. To form 
the other three sides set in posts eight feet 
apart and along the top of the posts (about forty- 
six inches from the ground) nail boards eight 
inches wide, one and one-half inches thick, and 
sixteen feet long. This will allow the colt to walk 
under the fence and yet will exclude the mares. 

In the centre of the paddock should be built a 
trough twelve inches wide, six inches deep and 
about twelve feet long, raised about four inches 
from the ground so that air can pass under. The 
troughs should be lined with zinc. This will 
enable the attendant to keep the troughs clean 
and sweet and free from musty feed. 

The colts should be fed once or twice a day, 
according to your own judgment, but do not feed 
any more at one time than the colts will eat up 
clean. I prefer a mixed feed of the following pro- 
portions : oats, two bushels ; wheat, one bushel ; 
corn, one-half bushel ; bran, fifty pounds ; oil meal, 
twenty pounds. 

By oil meal I do not mean oil cake but ground 
flax-seed meal. This feed should be thoroughly 
mixed. If the colts should leave any feed, throw 
that away or feed it to the pigs, and clean the 
trough before feeding again. 

92 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

Be sure to salt the mares and colts, in fact all 
horses on the farm, once or twice a week. 

WEANING THE COLT. 

We may now pass over a month or two, during 
which the mare and foal will ordinarily be doing 
well on pasture. Weaning time approaches. When 
the colt is five months old it should be weaned. 

The mare should be taken to the brood-mare 
shed and the colt to some stable so far away that 
it cannot hear its mother, and vice versa. The 
colt should be placed in a stall with a detachable 
feed box and without a manger. It will naturally 
be uneasy when first taken from its mother and 
every effort should be made to keep it from fret- 
ting, otherwise it will lose flesh. 

I advise weaning the colt in the morning. The 
same afternoon, between four and five o'clock, 
the colt should be allowed to suckle for about 
thirty minutes. For the next three days it should 
be allowed to suckle twice a day, in the morning 
between six and eight, and in the afternoon as 
already mentioned. After the third day it should 
only be taken to the mare in the afternoon. This 
should be continued for four to six days, after 
which the mare should be milked once or twice a 
day until she has thoroughly dried up. If there 
is fever or inflammation in the udder feed bran 
mashes, see that the mare gets plenty of exer- 
cise and give her Humphrey's Specific AA three 
or four times a day. In some cases hot applica- 
tions may be necessary. 

93 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

After the colt is weaned the mare should be 
turned into pasture again and remain there until 
time to take the mares up for the winter, which in 
some seasons will not be till November i or 15. 
If the mare does not thrive well on pasture after 
the colt is weaned take her up and feed as directed 
for winter feeding. 

As soon as the colt is weaned it should be fed 
for the first month five times a day as much of the 
mixture it ate in the feeding paddock as it will 
clean up at one meal. 

MARE ON WINTER DIET. 

When the mare is finally taken up she should 
be put on a winter diet. Feed her morning and 
evening three quarts of a mixture composed of 
two-thirds crushed oats and one-third winter wheat 
bran. Give her all the hay she will eat. The hay 
should be clean and not musty. I prefer hay that 
is half timothy and half clover. She should also 
be fed at noon a pint of winter wheat with which 
has been mixed a pint of cotton-seed meal. This 
is done as a preventive of abortion. 

I have attempted to give directions for a mare's 
care from a time in the spring just previous to 
foaling till she is on winter diet and is being car- 
ried along carefully with the expectation of her 
foaling again. 

AGE AT WHICH TO BREED DEVELOPED MARES. 

Before leaving the brood-mare, mention should 
be made of certain practices of breeding which are 

94 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

important to consider. One of them is the age at 
which the mare should first be bred. At this 
point, if you have a young mare, it will be neces- 
sary for you to decide whether or not you wish to 
race her. 

A filly intended for breeding purposes should 
be broken, trained and her speed developed like 
a filly intended for racing purposes. If at the age 
of two or three years she shows speed, is nicely 
gaited and comes up to your ideal of a brood-mare, 
it is not necessary to train her longer or to race her 
in order to endow her with the ability to transmit 
speed to her progeny. Extended development 
will not help her colts one particle. A mare in- 
herits a certain amount of speed ability from her 
parents. She should be developed enough to find 
out what ability she herself has in that line. If 
she has no speed ability she will transmit none. 

As in the case of stallions it is sometimes advis- 
able to race a mare one season to show the public 
she has speed and to help her sire and dam, but 
her racing career should be limited to one season, 
made as easy for her as possible, after which she 
should be retired to the brood-mare ranks. 

A mare intended for a race mare should not be 
bred first for the reason that few mares pack to- 
gether again after foaling. With such mares a 
hot day and a hard race will develop certain weak- 
nesses that place them at a disadvantage against 
other horses. A few of our fast performers have 
taken their records after producing a foal. Emily 
(2 . 1 1) was one of these. If a mare is not to be raced 

95 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

I prefer breeding her as a three-year-old or four- 
year-old. 

INBREEDING. 

A subject of interest to many brood-mare 
owners is that of inbreeding. It has been said 
that inbreeding concentrates the vices and weak- 
ens the individual. This, in my judgment, is not 
true if a careful selection of individuals is made. 

For example, I once knew a lawyer named 
James Miller, in whom considerable sporting 
blood flowed. On returning from a visit to Eng- 
land he brought me a setting of game chicken's 
eggs which he had secured from a nobleman 
friend of his. I bred these fowls in and in for 
sixteen years. They always bred true to feather 
although not always to size. At the end of six- 
teen years I had as good a lot of fowls as from the 
first hatching. I was always careful, however, 
to mate only the very best individuals. 

The American trotter is an example of a race 
founded by inbreeding. An inbreeding of Mes- 
senger blood produced Rysdyk's Hambletonian 
and Mambrino Chief, founders of our two prin- 
cipal trotting families. The trotter of to-day is 
the result of inbreeding these two strains with out- 
crosses to Pilot Jr., thoroughbred, Clay and 
Morgan. 

I do not agree with a foreign authority that the 
American trotter is too highly inbred. The trot- 
ting family has reached its present perfection 
through inbreeding and would have been still 

9 6 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

farther advanced but for the set-back during the 
Civil War period. 

SELECTING A MATE. 

Naturally, every breeder has a preference for 
certain lines of blood. I am somewhat partial to 
the " best son of a best son " theory. On pedi- 
gree alone I would prefer to cross a mare to a horse 
descended from Hambletonian through his best 
sons, George Wilkes and Electioneer, than through 
any other sons although other sons were success- 
ful, such as Happy Medium, Egbert, Strathmore, 
Aberdeen, Dictator, Harold and Alexander's 
Abdallah. The latter horse I consider the best 
son of his sire for his opportunities. So many 
trotters have come from his few descendants that 
he himself must have had the requirements of a 
sensational sire and would doubtless have proved 
one but for his untimely death. 

The average brood-mare owner does not study 
pedigrees closely enough. The most compre- 
hensive treatment of this subject is S. W. Parlin's 
book, " The American Trotter," which should be 
in every brood-mare owner's hands. 

When you come to select a mate for your mare 
do not rush to the stallion most prominent before 
the public until you are sure he will make a good 
cross on your mare. Do not judge a stallion by 
the number he has in the 2.30 list, but judge him 
by the number of good, successful race-horses he 
has sired. As an example of crossing two strains 
of blood let us suppose that you have on your 

97 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

farm two good stallions, the best sons of their 
respective sires. We will call one Primo, the 
other Ideal. It is your desire to establish a family 
from these two horses. Take your best daughter 
of Ideal from a well-bred dam. If she is also the 
best daughter of her dam, so much the better. 
Breed her to Primo. We will suppose that you 
secure from this union a beautiful filly with ex- 
treme speed, although the chances are it will be a 
colt, for males generally come when you are look- 
ing for the opposite sex. The filly has so many 
good qualities you are determined to go back to 
the Ideal blood so you breed this filly to Ideal. If 
a filly results from this mating she should be bred 
to some good out-cross. If this is a filly you can 
breed to Primo again. We once had at Village 
Farm a filly (The Silent One), by Chimes, dam 
Silent Rose, by Mambrino King, grandam Beat- 
tie Chimes, by Chimes. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 

Almost as important to brood-mare owners as 
inbreeding is the subject of first impressions. I 
have very often found that a mare's first foal is 
her best. Without attempting to discuss the 
matter statistically or scientifically I may say that 
the majority of veterinarians and doctors with 
whom I have conversed on the subject believe that 
the impression of a mare's first mating is stronger 
than any other ; that, therefore, a mare's first foal 
is likely to be her best one, and that the first im- 
pression has a more or less lasting effect on the 

98 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

mare and her subsequent foals. If this be true 
a brood-mare owner should be careful to breed 
his virgin mare to the best stallion he can select. 
One veterinarian has said that, all other things 
being equal, he would choose the mare which had 
been first covered by the better stallion. It is 
agreed that the impression is a nervous and not 
a physical one. I believe one reason a mare's 
first foal is likely to be better than her others is 
because she is then very likely to be in better 
physical condition than at any other period of her 
existence. The better health the mare and stal- 
lion enjoy when they are mated the healthier and 
stronger the foal, and the higher type horse it will 
become. The same principle is true with refer- 
ence to the other divisions of the animal kingdom. 
The first foal of Estabella, one of my favorite 
brood-mares, was Prince Regent, which I think 
would have been one of the greatest sires the trot- 
ting world ever saw. He died in March, 1891, as 
a six-year-old, just before the stud season. Sixty- 
four mares had been booked to him at five hun- 
dred dollars. He was a very fast horse and took 
his record of 2.163^, beating Pamlico (2.10) after 
a stud season. Prince Regent was an equine 
king and an impressive individual, either at rest 
or while walking, jogging or racing. 

IMPORTANCE OF NATURAL SPEED. 

In connection with my observations on breeding 
mares I might say that in my experience I have 
found that the great matrons almost invariably 

LOFC, 99 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

have a great deal of natural speed, and could show 
it in the paddock if frightened. 

Mr. C. J. Hamlin used to delight in seeing Esta- 
bella trot in the paddock. His favorite method 
of inducing horses to show their speed in the pad- 
dock was to step behind them and open and shut 
a large umbrella with as much noise and flourish as 
possible. 

I remember that Miss Russell, the dam of Maud 
S. (2.08%) and Nutwood (2.18%), was a great lot 
trotter. Mr. Hamlin tried to purchase her at one 
time but was unsuccessful. He offered ten thou- 
sand dollars for a two-year-old full sister of Maud 
S. and eight thousand dollars for the full sister a 
year younger. 

In closing this chapter I might say that I do 
not agree with some of the old-time authorities 
who claimed that the brood-mare was merely a 
shell in which to raise colts. I consider her part 
in the production of trotters fully as important 
as that of the stallion. 



100 



Chapter Six 
THE WEANLING AND YEARLING 

Halter Breaking. — Breaking to Bit. — Beside a Lead Pony. 
— Ground- Breaking. — Hooking to Cart. — Shoeing. — Develop- 
ing Muscles and Speed. — " Dr. Green. 1 ' — A Futurity Can- 
didate. — Feeding. — The Yearling. 

ONE of the greatest pleasures of a trotting- 
horse breeder comes when the time arrives 
to break the weanling and continues 
through the period of its first speed development, 
for in this way and in this way only can the 
breeder determine his success or failure. 

It will be remembered that in the previous chap- 
ter I spoke of the care which the foal should 
receive from birth up to that point when it is no 
longer dependent on his dam and is called a 
weanling. 

This chapter will treat of its care and atten- 
tion from the time that it is first halter-broken 
until it is technically a yearling. 

HALTER-BREAKING. 

After the colt has been entirely removed from 
the influence of its mother it should be halter- 
broken. 

Prepare for the colt a good, strong, five-ring 
leather halter and put it on carefully. The halter 

IOI 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

should not fit too tightly nor too loosely and 
should be kept on the colt till time to harness- 
break it. 

After the halter has been placed on the colt's 
head snap a strong leather halter strap into the 
lower ring of the halter. This strap should be 
one and one-quarter inches wide and two and one- 
half feet long. Leave this hanging to the halter 
so that you can enter the stall at any time and 
take hold of the colt without frightening it. As 
the weanling walks around the stall, and when 
nibbling at the hay, it will step on the halter strap 
from time to time and find that it cannot raise its 
head. In this way the colt soon learns that the 
halter is an instrument of restraint. When the 
halter has remained on the colt for about a week 
the youngster will be about two-thirds halter- 
broken. Its education in this direction may then 
be completed by leading it from the stall. Ordi- 
narily you will find the colt willing to go anywhere 
you lead it. 

Some men halter-break colts in the open with- 
out preliminary wearing of the halter in the stall, 
but I do not approve of this. I have seen too 
many colts frightened and injured by rearing 
away from the halter, to the use of which they 
have not become accustomed. 

If you have a large main barn, with a wide hall- 
way, the best place to lead a colt, after it has worn 
a halter in its stall for a week, is the hallway of 
the barn. The attendant should lead the colt up 
and down the hallway a great many times. When 

102 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

the colt does this quietly it may be led around a 
smooth paddock. In time the colt will follow 
its attendant to any place. 

The weanling, at all times, should be petted 
and treated kindly. It should be groomed care- 
fully each day and its hair straightened out. 
This will give it a healthy coat, make it feel good 
and assist its growth. 

BREAKING TO BIT. 

When the colt is six months old procure a bridle 
that fits well and place it on the colt in the stall, 
as was done with the halter. Use a snaffle bit 
and see that it fits properly, otherwise it will worry 
and aggravate the colt. The bit will vary in 
length from three to three and one-half inches. 
Keep the bridle on the colt about an hour and a 
half, both morning and afternoon. 

When it becomes accustomed to the bit in the 
stall the colt is ready for the colt breaker. 

BESIDE THE LEAD PONY. 

The colt should first be led to halter on a walk, 
by a competent man, beside a saddle pony. Half 
a mile is long enough for the first lesson. This 
should be repeated daily for about a week or till 
the colt becomes accustomed to the pony. When 
this work commences the colt should be turned 
out about an hour every morning if the weather 
is fine. 

As soon as leading begins the colt should be 
properly fitted with a pair of light shin boots, as 

103 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

protection against injuries which are liable to pro- 
duce splints and which have laid up and even 
retired a great many colts. When the colt is 
turned out I advise putting shin and quarter boots 
on for protection. The quarter boots used in the 
paddock should be kept for this purpose only and 
a different pair used in training. 

The following week the colt may be led along 
on a slow jog and for a short distance some place 
in the half-mile let the colt move along nearly as 
fast as it will go. Be sure to keep the colt on a 
trot and its head straight with the body. 

If by this time the colt is leading nicely and 
shows promise of speed I would advise letting up 
on the leading for a while. It is not well to force 
the colt too strenuously, 

GROUND-BREAKING. 

By this time the colt will be approaching seven 
months of age and it should then be broken to 
harness. 

Procure a harness that will fit properly and keep 
it on the colt in the stall from thirty minutes to 
an hour each day till the youngster becomes 
accustomed to the strange straps. After that 
the colt should be driven along the barn hallway 
or in a smooth paddock till he is thoroughly 
ground broken and responds to words of com- 
mand, the most important of which is " whoa." 
It is equally important that the colt be taught to 
stand still, particularly after it is hitched. It 
lessens the pleasure of ownership when you stop 

104 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

in the road to talk to a friend to find your horse 
so restless that you have to drive on and postpone 
conversation till another time. The colt should 
be taught to back and to turn either to right or to 
left with as much ease as when going forward. A 
great many of our race-horses, improperly broken 
in youth, will turn only in one direction. 

After the colt is thoroughly ground-broken pro- 
cure two light round poles twelve or fourteen feet 
long and slip them through the shaft holders as 
though they were shafts of a cart. Rub these 
poles along the sides and quarters of the colt until 
it becomes accustomed to them and shows no fear 
nor excitement. The colt is now ready to hook up. 

HOOKING TO CART. 

I do not approve of heavy breaking carts. I 
advise hooking the colt to a light cart from which 
one can descend quickly. Take a groom along 
for the first few times, as his assistance will be 
needed in case of emergency. 

Do not keep the colt hooked up more than 
thirty or forty minutes a day nor drive it more 
than a mile a day. 

Drive it this way every day for ten or twelve 
days, by which time the colt should be nicely 
broken. 

SHOEING. 

The colt is now ready to be shod. If the soil is 
gravelly shoes may become necessary before the 
colt is thoroughly broken. As to shoeing you 

105 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

must use your own judgment or consult an exper- 
ienced trainer or a competent blacksmith ; differ- 
ent colts will require different shoes. The natural- 
gaited trotter will require light shoes; double- 
gait ed colts, shoes that are a little heavier. Some 
colts will show considerable speed without shoes. 
Fantasy, when two years old, trotted a quarter 
in thirty-five seconds without them. 

DEVELOPING MUSCLES AND SPEED. 

After the colt is shod if it is doing nicely it can 
be brushed for a sixteenth or a quarter of a mile 
each day. By this time it will probably need a 
pair of quarter boots for protection. 

The colt should never be asked to do all it can. 
Let it keep a little reserve speed. This will en- 
courage the youngster, and it will take hold more 
cheerfully, and will improve as its education 
progresses. 

When the colt is eight months old go back to 
leading in addition to the other work. Have the 
colt led three or four times a week and driven two 
or three times. 

When January i of the year following that of 
its foaling arrives the colt will technically become 
a yearling. 

THE YEARLING. 

By the time the colt technically becomes a year- 
ling its muscles and speed will be well under way 
of development. This development should be 
continued until the middle of May. 

106 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

METHOD OF DEVELOPING. 

Most of the work given the colt should be 
beside a lead pony. This will develop its speed 
more quickly than when hitched to cart and with- 
out the attending fatigue. The yearling should 
be driven to cart some, as indicated, in order to 
11 muscle it up " and make it capable of pulling 
the weight it will have to draw in later years. 

11 DR. GREEN. " 

Now spring has come and the grass is green and 
the colt should be turned out to graze for from 
fifteen to thirty days. " Dr. Green " is the best 
veterinarian I know of — makes the best " speed 
elixir " for a colt. After the vacation is over the 
colt should be taken up and led and driven alter- 
nately till the first of September. The colt should 
be turned into a paddock two hours each after- 
noon. If the colt is sluggish cut down on its 
work and let it run out longer each day. 

A FUTURITY CANDIDATE. 

If the colt looks like a futurity candidate by 
September i, I would advise that leading be 
stopped and all work after that be to harness. 

As the nights become cool, say during Septem- 
ber and October, the colt will improve rapidly, 
in fact probably so much it will surprise you. Do 
not overdo the training, for the colt, above all 
other things, should never be over-trained. 

I would advise you to let up on the colt during 

107 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

November and December, allowing it to get its 
exercise in the paddocks. 

FEEDING. 

A nice feed for yearlings, as well as two-year- 
olds, is prepared as follows. Boil the required 
amount of oats and let them steam about an hour, 
and then mix with them about one-eighth their 
quantity of good winter wheat-bran and about 
a tablespoonful of linseed meal to each horse. 



108 



Chapter Seven 
THE TWO-YEAR-OLD AND OLDER 

Winter Work. — Spring Work. — Summer Work. — Turning 
Over to a Trainer. — Use of Bandages and Washes. — Packing 
of Feet. — Aged Horses. 

THE care of the two-year-olds and colts of 
older ages is so nearly alike that, except 
where noted, the advice herein can be ap- 
plied to all ages. 

WINTER WORK. 

We left the colt in December of its yearling 
form. In January of its two-year-old form take it 
up and jog it carefully. 

If, during the winter, sleighing is good, jog to 
sleigh and, without warming it up too much, let it 
brush along, say a quarter of a mile. The young- 
ster will enjoy this and the practice will materi- 
ally develop its muscles and speed. 

During the early winter of its two-year-old form 
you should have your mind made up as to whether 
the colt is a " colt trotter " or whether it should 
be prepared for the market. If you decide it will 
not pay to train the colt any longer the best thing 
to do is to sell, in which event I refer you to the 
following chapter on preparing for the sales and 
the show rings. If, on the other hand, you think 

109 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

the colt will make a good race-horse as a five-year- 
old, turn it out till the fall of the year it is coming 
four years old, when it should be taken up again 
and turned over to a trainer. During this period 
the colt should be well looked after and not 
neglected. 

SPRING WORK. 

To return to the two-year-old, carry the colt 
along with jog work till about March i when the 
roads will break up and spring arrive. I would 
advise giving the colt a nice long jog about four 
times a week. 

I would let up on the colt the first of March and 
turn it out in the paddock for about a month. 
See that it is well looked after. After the vaca- 
tion I advise taking the colt up and jogging it for 
from three to four weeks, preparatory to track 
work. 

Late in April or early in May the weather will 
be fine, the road and track in good condition, and 
spring — a beautiful time of the year — is with us. 
The colt will really ask to go, will want to go, and 
the impatient trainer, after the tedious winter, is 
usually anxious to let it go. This is the time 
when the impatience of horse and driver should 
be restrained. Go slow with the colt and keep it 
well within itself. The colt may be worked on the 
track with short brushes at speed. During the 
latter part of May or early in June the colt may 
be driven very slow miles, allowing it to step 
through the stretch at the last end. 

no 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

I do not advise repeating the colt before June 1 5 
or 20. I would then begin to repeat it slow miles, 
with the last half the faster and with a brush at 
the end, but never drive the colt to its limit. 

SUMMER WORK. 

About July 1 the colt is, or should be, in nice, 
strong condition, with hardened and well-seasoned 
legs. It is now ready for work a little more 
severe and for faster repeats. If the colt is speedy 
and is making speed each successive repeat should 
be faster, dropping from two to four seconds 
every work-out. 

By August the owner and trainer should be able 
to judge from the speed shown in the last quarters 
or halves of work-out miles whether they have a 
colt good enough to win a portion of the money 
offered in the futurities. 

If the colt as a two-year-old is not good enough 
it should be turned out about September 1 and 
carried over another year. Take off its shoes and 
rasp down its feet before turning it out. The colt 
should be taken in and fed each day as usual and 
may be kept out over night if the weather is good. 
After running out a month the colt should be 
taken up and jogged the balance of the fall. This 
is a good time to work on its feet and legs if they 
are the least bit sore or off in any way. 

TURNING OVER TO A TRAINER. 

If the owner thinks his colt will do for the 
futurities he should turn his candidate over to the 

in 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

best driver of colts he can afford, if he has not 
already done so. Many fast colts have been 
spoiled by cheap trainers who were thought well 
of by their employers, because they were nice 
fellows and good dressers. After the experienced 
trainer gets the colt it is useless to advise as to its 
training. No person can lay down rules that will 
fit all cases and the writer does not intend to try 
the experiment. 

USE OF BANDAGES AND WASHES. 

Of course I have opinions on certain points in 
training colts, which apply to all cases. For 
instance, I am opposed to the constant use of 
bandages unless absolutely necessary. I do not 
believe in washes, unless just after a race. If the 
groom would spend as much time rubbing the legs 
as he does in applying liniments and lotions the 
horse would be much better off. 

PACKING OF FEET. 

I attach considerable importance to the proper 
packing of horse's feet and have obtained the best 
results from blue clay. If this be too expensive 
or hard to get use linseed meal and bran, propor- 
tions two-thirds meal to one-third bran, mixed 
with warm water. The very worst possible pack- 
ing, but one now seldom used, is cow manure. 

The programme as outlined in this chapter is 
the one used in developing all the Village Farm 
horses. Many of them afterwards became cham- 
pions and raced and stayed sound for years. 

112 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

AGED HORSES. 

I will give no advice on the care of aged race- 
horses because that is a matter which should be 
left to the horse's trainer. Aged horses will be 
carried through the winter with jog work very 
much the same as two-year-olds and three-year- 
olds except that they should be jogged longer dis- 
tances, say from four to seven miles, as mentioned 
in connection with stallions. Right here I might 
advise especial care being given a horse in its four- 
year-old form. Very few horses are at their best 
then, perhaps partly because of shedding more 
teeth at that age than at any other time. One of 
the most important things in caring for a horse is 
to see that its teeth are well looked after. A com- 
petent man should examine all of your horses once 
a year, either in December or January. 

The colt that was not thought fast enough to 
start in the futurities may, when it reaches five 
years, be fast enough to race in stakes or classes, 
in which event it may be expected to show con- 
siderable promise in its four-year-old form and 
should be given special preparation. This prepa- 
ration, if correctly given, should leave the horse 
clean and sound. It will have had considerable 
fast work, even up to full miles, but it must not 
be trained to death, and should have a lot of fast 
miles left in it to use later on to get the money with. 

It is significant that only a small proportion of 
the horses that have been trained with a view of 
giving them fast trials in the fall previous to their 
prospective Grand Circuit campaign have reached 

"3 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

the races. It would have been much better to 
have given them many miles a little slower so that 
they would have been well muscled up for the stiff 
preparation of the spring. Such a course lessens 
the number of cripples that have to be shipped 
home, much to the disgUwSt of the owners, trainers 
and friends of both. No horse should be worked 
excessively during the winter. It keeps him 
keyed up too long. Remember, however, that 
long jogs, while they muscle up a horse, do not 
develop its speed ; only brush work does that, so 
the proper combination of both is necessary. 

While speaking of horse racing I might mention 
a fact that is not emphasized enough. Many 
horses are prepared for races in which it is not 
thought they can win, but in which it is expected 
they can easily win second or third money. As a 
matter of fact the second or third horses often 
have a harder time winning and have more of 
their vitality sapped than the winner. Usually 
the winner goes no faster than it is forced, whereas 
the horse finishing second has probably through- 
out the mile been struggling either to defeat the 
first horse or to withstand the rush of the third. 
Then, again, a horse that wins can often be saved 
a little at different points in the mile whereas the 
majority of the horses behind are constantly 
struggling to better their places. 

Just a closing paragraph of advice to the owner 
of a horse in training. Never ask your trainer 
to show you as fast a mile with your horse as he 
can go. He may need that mile in a race sometime. 

114 



Chapter Eight 



PREPARING FOR THE SALES AND 
THE SHOW RINGS 



Avoid Over- Production. — The Best Age at Which to Sell. — 
Preparing for Sales. — Culls. — Show Horses. — Preparing for 
Shows. — Incidentals. 



OF course it is next to impossible for any 
breeder to retain every colt he raises. In 
time the largest farm will become over 
stocked. It is necessary, therefore, for the 
breeder to sell a certain number of colts each 
year. This may be done either by private sale 
or at public auction. Most will prefer the latter 
method because the market is already provided 
and each horse is sold for what the public, and not 
one man, thinks it is worth. 

THE BEST AGE AT WHICH TO SELL. 

It has already been mentioned that the best age 
at which to sell horses is either in the fall before 
they are two years old or in the spring after they 
become that age. This assertion is made after an 
extended experience in selling colts at all ages. 
The average two-year-old can be sold at a maxi- 

"5 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

mum price for a minimum expense. Colts at this 
age not only appeal to the professional horsemen, 
anxious to secure futurity prospects, but also to 
the amateurs who like to try their hands at devel- 
oping speed, particularly young business men 
who wish to fuss around horses as a recreation 
after office hours. 

PREPARING FOR SALES. 

In conditioning colts for sales they cannot be 
too well broken. It somewhat enhances the value 
of a colt to be broken to double harness, but that 
is not difficult because a colt well broken to single 
harness will drive double. 

The colt should be in the best possible physical 
condition. 

I advise by all means to give the sale colt its 
preliminary exercise beside a lead pony, in which 
manner also it should be shown in the ring. The 
best-bred and best-looking colt in the world will 
not bring its full value in the auction ring if it 
cannot show a promise of speed commensurate 
with its breeding and individuality. A colt will 
show more speed in the sale ring beside a pony 
than in any other way. 

When the colt is ready to be sold it should be 
shown by an experienced and competent man. 
A green colt and a green exhibitor make a bad 
combination which often results in a colt bringing 
only half its value. The sale ring is no place to 
curtail expenses. 

116 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

CULLS. 

Almost every farm has a few " culls/ ' I would 
not advise sending them to a public auction. It 
hurts the sale business by lowering averages, and 
it hurts your farm's reputation, also the reputa- 
tion of the blood lines you are propagating. Culls 
can usually be disposed of to advantage among 
the farmers of your neighborhood, who will use 
them as general-purpose horses. 

SHOW HORSES. 

Now, as to show horses, if you have followed 
out the advice as to combining beauty and speed 
you will have some show horses with which you 
should take pride in demonstrating your success 
to the world. 

PREPARING FOR SHOWS. 

The show horse should have still better 
attention than the sale horse. He should be thor- 
oughly broken, with the best of manners in stable 
and ring, should be in the finest possible condi- 
tion, in fact, be as near perfection as it is possible 
for you to make him. One of the important 
things to teach a show horse is, to stick to a pure 
gait at all times, regardless of short turns, bad 
footing and the excitement around the ring- 
side. 

Your horses should be shown by the best man 
that you can afford to engage. 

117 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

INCIDENTALS. 

Considerable attention should be paid to the 
fittings. Have the best of harness, leading rigs 
and good, competent grooms, all dressed alike in 
whatever colors you select. 

I think all exhibitors in the show ring should be 
placed on an equal footing and all be made to 
show in one way. The best way to show a horse 
in the ring is beside a saddle pony. It gives the 
best satisfaction to exhibitor, association, judges 
and public. 

Whatever you do, do not go to the show ring 
unprepared, for you will come away dissatisfied 
and will probably lay blame on the association 
and judges which you yourself should shoulder. 

Take your medicine like a gentleman. Sooner 
or later you will win ribbons enough to make you 
forget all your troubles. 



118 



Chapter Nine 

MANAGEMENT OF A STOCK FARM 

Business Principles. — The Superintendent. — The Trainer. 
— Grooms. — Sources of Revenue. — Advertising and Cata- 
logues. — Breeding Records. — Causes of Failures. — Sources 
of Waste. 

THIS chapter will be written for the benefit 
of the gentleman who has founded a stock 
farm of considerable size, although the 
advice and suggestions may be put to practice 
by him who breeds on a smaller scale. 

I will suppose that the reader is the owner of a 
farm laid out as directed in chapter three. Con- 
siderable money, doubtless, has been spent on the 
establishment. 

BUSINESS PRINCIPLES. 

Even if it has been founded for pleasure alone, 
the farm should be conducted on business prin- 
ciples and, if possible, made to pay expenses. 
When one comes out before the trotting world as 
a breeder, he is entering a field which contains 
some of the smartest and shrewdest business men 
in the country. In fact, if some horsemen who 
follow the business professionally had devoted a 
like amount of attention to commercial pursuits 
they would have made fortunes for themselves. 

119 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

THE SUPERINTENDENT., 

If you have founded a large farm or are about 
to do so, the first thing for you to do is to secure 
your superintendent. He will be hard to select, 
although, when it becomes known that you intend 
embarking in the breeding business, you will hear 
from many who on their own letter paper look to 
be entirely competent. 

The superintendent should be competent to 
take full charge of the property and be the sole 
manager thereof, except that he should be ex- 
pected to report to the proprietor once or twice a 
week and be guided in important details by the 
latter's suggestions. 

Right here a word to superintendents : Do 
not make a great, long, tiresome report to the 
proprietor, but condense things so that the 
details will not bother him. At the same time, 
nothing of importance should ever be kept from 
him. 

The superintendent should have a thorough 
and practical knowledge of all details pertain- 
ing to the raising of stock and be able to handle 
things in a business-like manner. Among other 
details, the superintendent will be expected to 
oversee the breeding of mares, assisting mares to 
foal, breaking and training colts, and developing 
speed. He should also have a practical knowl- 
edge of farming in order to know that the depart- 
ment which should be in charge of a head fa 
is running properly. The " kid-gloved " super- 

120 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

intendent, or the one continually running to town, 
will not prove very successful on a large stock 
farm. 

The superintendent, in addition to understand- 
ing about the breeding of mares, should know 
how to keep breeding records, forms of which were 
given in chapter four. 

The superintendent should make a thorough 
inspection of the farm once a day, twice is better, 
and see that everything is being done right and 
that every animal is properly cared for and 
watered and fed regularly. 

The superintendent should be the handiest all- 
around man on the farm and he who is the most 
successful will be the first up in the morning and 
the last to leave the stables at night. 

A thorough knowledge of brood-mares is indis- 
pensable to the superintendent, especially when 
a mare needs assistance in foaling hours before a 
veterinarian can arrive. Some large farms have 
a veterinarian in their employ, but if the super- 
intendent is of the right sort this large item of 
expense may be cancelled. 

The superintendent should understand enough 
about the development of speed to be able to 
break and train colts till they are old enough to 
be turned over to a trainer. Every colt, if care- 
fully handled, will be turned over to the trainer, 
sound, clean-limbed and otherwise uninjured. 

The superintendent's duties, while arduous, 
offer the interested man much satisfaction in 
viewing the results of his handiwork. 

121 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

It is hardly necessary to say I do not think any 
superintendent can run a farm by sitting in the 
parlor of his house or in his farm office, or in run- 
ning about the country. 

The superintendent's first duty on taking 
charge of a stock farm is to see that he has as 
efficient a corps of workers under him as it is pos- 
sible for him to secure, according to local condi- 
tions. 

It will be unnecessary to outline in detail the 
duties of a superintendent. A competent man 
will understand that for himself, and it is to be 
supposed that the owner has chosen an ideal man 
for the ideal farm outlined. 

I might mention here that the owner need not 
be surprised to receive letters from the employees 
at the farm, " knocking" the busy superintend- 
ent. That seems to be a favorite method with 
incompetent men whom the superintendent has 
to chastise. If such men fear to write the pro- 
prietor they will try to reach his ear while on a 
visit to the farm and will unwind a long yarn in 
regard to a supposed mismanagement of the farm. 
Such things will naturally cause the owner to 
worry and he will wonder whether or not he has 
the right man in the right place. He will find, 
in most cases, the " knockers " are dissatisfied 
employees. The majority of farm proprietors 
are business men enough to be able to tell if the 
farm is being rightly managed, without consult- 
ing the grooms. 

A farm about which everything is kept neat, 

122 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

clean and tidy is usually a well-managed one. It 
does not need an expert to decide whether the 
stock is in good shape, whether the colts are act- 
ing right or whether they are being properly 
trained and developed. 

The monthly statement will show whether or 
not the superintendent is trying to make a busi- 
ness success of the venture. 

The superintendent should be held responsible 
for the details of breaking and developing the 
colts and when fall comes he and the colt trainers 
should be able to turn some promising material 
over to the speed department, without resorting 
to excuses. 

The competent superintendent does not need 
to use such excuses as, "the track wasn't good," 
" there was a great deal of rainy weather," " your 
family of horses is not the right kind to produce 
speed," etc. 

As before mentioned, the superintendent should 
at all times consult the proprietor and take pleas- 
ure in showing him all the stock at all times, 
keeping nothing away from him. 

The proprietor should, in return, if he has se- 
lected the right man, never hesitate to seek advice 
from his superintendent, rather than from the 
many outsiders, some of them personal friends, 
always willing to offer it. The proprietor should 
at all times evince an interest in his stock. It is 
not very encouraging for a superintendent and 
other employees to work on a farm where their 
efforts do not interest the proprietor, 

123 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

The bank account should be jealously guarded 
by the superintendent, who should make every 
effort to show that he is interested in keeping 
expenses down without being penurious. There 
is such a thing as being too economical on a farm 
which is expected to turn out a great stable of suc- 
cessful race-horses to help pay the running ex- 
penses of the farm. 

Never be afraid to pay a competent man, be he 
superintendent, trainer, colt-breeder or groom, a 
good fair salary. Such a man is cheaper to the 
proprietor than an incompetent man who will 
work for little or nothing. 

THE TRAINER. 

When the training department outgrows the 
superintendent, it will be necessary to place it in 
charge of a trainer, the selection of which is an 
important step, particularly since the reputation 
of the farm depends on him to a considerable 
degree. 

In this connection I am going to quote portions 
of a letter of advice I once wrote a trainer. It 
explains itself. 

" Your kind letter received and at your request 
I will give you my views. Yes, I fully agree with 
you that your colts have done remarkably well in 
their work, a great deal better than I expected, 
but that is one of the reasons you should be care- 
ful. ... I have a deep interest in you and am 
anxious to see you at the top of the ladder. You 
have mastered the profession in training young 

124 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

horses. In my mind you are one of the best 
developers of speed that there is in this country. 
... I think you may be hurrying the prepara- 
tion and making too much speed in a short time. 
. . . Now, my boy, above all things, keep them 
sound. Look them over every morning after you 
have worked them and if you see the least little 
thing, I should certainly stop and go a little 
slower. . . . You have as good material, in my 
opinion, as there is in this country or any other 
country. You have everything to work with, or 
if not, you had better get it. You have your own 
help and if you have not good help you had better 
get it. . . . I wish to call your attention to the 

fact that the — Farm now hinges on you. 

You will either go down as not smart enough to 
develop and get a stable of horses ready for the 
Grand Circuit or you will be on the top of the heap 

in . ... If you accomplish what I have 

mapped out in my mind, you will be one of the 
most prominent trainers in America, and the 
Farm will be one of the most promi- 
nent stock farms in the country. If you fail I 
need not tell you the rest. There are more re- 
porters anxious to write about failures, free of 
expense, than there are to write a boost, unless 
paid for it. Now, all you have to do is — plan far 
enough ahead and work early and late to accom- 
plish your ends." 

After engaging a trainer, which will probably 
be on a one, two, three, or five year contract, sal- 
ary payable monthly, it is up to the proprietor to 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

give the trainer every opportunity to develop the 
speed of his colts. See that he is amply provided 
with sulkies, carts, harness, boots and other 
equipment. 

GROOMS. 

Good grooms are a necessity on a farm and 
their worth is now recognized more than ever, 
for they are receiving larger salaries to-day than 
ever before, to my knowledge. Grooms deserve 
a great deal of credit. They have a pretty hard 
life and some receive small pay for the responsi- 
bility resting upon them. Many business men 
who would not trust their clerks to carry ten 
thousand dollars unless guarded by a detective 
will place a ten thousand dollar horse in charge 
of an incompetent man because he is cheap. 

The groom should take pride enough in himself 
and the impression the farm makes on visitors to 
appear as neat as possible about the stables. He 
should never leave his horses when they need 
attention. He should no more think of running 
to town to a saloon or playing cards or shooting 
dice than would the cashier of a bank. If a groom 
takes no pride in appearance on the farm, he 
should at least do so on the race-track. Nothing 
gives a stable of horses on a race-track a cleaner 
appearance than well-dressed, gentlemanly-look- 
ing grooms. Every man on a stock farm should be 
up at five o'clock in order to have the morning 
feeding completed by breakfast time, after which 
the work of the day will require the attention of all. 

126 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

SOURCES OF REVENUE. 

The two chief sources of revenue on a stock 
farm are the racing stable and the stallions. The 
success of the former depends on so many contin- 
gencies that the latter generally prove the surest 
means of income. 

Unless the stallions are being reserved for pri- 
vate use, it will be the superintendent's duty to 
use every effort to attract public patronage to 
them. 

ADVERTISING AND CATALOGUES. 

If your stallions are worth advertising at all 
they are worth advertising well, and space should 
be contracted for in the principal turf papers. It 
is generally advisable to issue yearly catalogues 
of your stock to mail to prospective patrons and 
purchasers. A tastily arranged catalogue, statis- 
tically correct, is a great advertisement for a 
stock farm and will receive the support of the 
turf press because it makes it easy for the writers 
to look up the breeding of your stock when occa- 
sion requires. 

BREEDING RECORDS. 

To make the breeding department a success it 
is imperative that the records be properly kept 
and in such a manner that, in case the superin- 
tendent is absent through illness, any other com- 
petent man may refer to the records and run 
things till the superintendent's return. Blank 
forms for a trial sheet, breeding certificates, etc., 
were given in chapter four. 

127 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

System is as necessary on a stock farm as in an 
office or a bank, perhaps more so. 

CAUSES OF FAILURES. 

If the proprietor has selected the right stock 
and has employed the right trainer, he will in a 
few years be listed with the prominent farms of 
the country. If not, he had better sell out and 
start over again, rather than continue with a 
failure. 

If you need any excuse for selling, one of the 
following well-worn ones may do : "My health 
is not good. I must give up my farm." " I con- 
template taking a trip to Europe." " My busi- 
ness is such I cannot afford to give up so much 
time to the details of a stock farm," etc. 

Stock-farm failures are generally due to extrav- 
agant methods, or a failure to select the right 
stallion or the right brood-mares. 

SOURCES OF WASTE. 

Among the sources of waste on a stock farm are 
feed and bedding. These items are especially 
large in the stable at the races and the trainer 
should economize whenever possible. 

Feed for the farm should be purchased in large 
quantities at a time of year when markets are 
lowest. On large farms where not enough oats 
are raised to supply stock, it should be bought by 
carloads ; bran the same way ; other food stuff in 
proportion. 

Bedding runs into money very quickly and 

128 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

grooms should be instructed to avoid waste. It 
should be well shaken up after removing from the 
stalls and when dried may be used again. The 
balance will be deposited in the manure pile. 
Manure piles should be kept tidy and some dis- 
tance from the barn. Every day or two, or at 
least not longer than once a week, the manure 
should be carted to the fields. 

After the bedding has been removed from the 
stalls, they should be swept up clean and well 
aired beside being disinfected with some good 
disinfectant. My choice is slaked lime, next choice 
Sanitas. Such treatment will keep the stalls in 
sanitary condition, will kill the ammonia and 
make the barn smell sweet. The stalls should be 
disinfected once a week, and in the spring and 
fall, if weather is damp, twice a week, or oftener 
if necessary. 



129 



Chapter Ten 
CARE OF THE FEET AND TEETH 

Care of Feet. — Young Colts. — Corns. — The Perfect Hoof. — 
Ring- Bone. — After the Races. — Thrush. — Care of the Teeth. 

TWO of the important details in connection 
with the management of a stock farm are 
the care of the horse's feet and teeth. The 
subject is so important in my estimation, that it 
is worthy of a separate chapter. 

The old remark, " No foot, no horse," is a very 
true one and applies to every horse on the farm. 

CARE OF FEET. 

The stallion should be shod every thirty days 
in order to keep his feet level and the heels wide 
enough to prevent contraction. 

The brood-mares should be gone over carefully 
every April and their feet trimmed, leveled and 
rounded up. This should be done again in August 
and in December. 

The feet of the colts and horses in training 
should be regularly cared for as necessity demands. 

YOUNG COLTS. 

If the feet of young colts are not properly 
looked after it will be found that in ninety-eight 
per cent of them the inside quarters of the front 
feet are narrower than the outside ; and in ninety 

130 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

per cent the outside quarters of the hind feet will 
be narrower than the inside. I think the reason 
for this is because of the position young foals take 
in sucking, which retards the circulation of the 
blood on the inside of the front feet and on the 
outside of the hind feet. 

The foal's feet should be leveled when it is from 
ten to fifteen days old. The hoof will be soft and 
tender and may be trimmed with a jackknife. 
This treatment should be continued till the colt 
is about four months old, when the inside and 
outside quarters should be of the same width. 
This will prevent corns. 

CORNS. 

It is a mistaken idea that unshod colts never 
have corns. I have often seen them with corns 
and with contracted heels. 

Imperfect feet are often a peculiarity of cer- 
tain families. Some families are predisposed to 
high heels, others to low. 

If the feet of the colts received closer attention 
we would have fewer knee-knockers and horses 
that toe out or toe in. I would rather have one 
colt that toes in than ten that toe out. Person- 
ally, I have very little use for horses that toe out 
and would not select for a matron a mare that 
toed out, no matter how well bred she might be. 

THE PERFECT HOOF. 

The front of a colt's hoof should stand at an 
angle of forty-five degrees to the ground, or if not, 

I3 1 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

the hoof should be so trimmed or shod that it will 
have that angle. 

RING-BONE. 

I might say here that ring-bone in colts is very 
often caused by keeping them standing in stalls 
heavily bedded. The colt's ankles are tender and 
the continual walking around in the deep straw 
causes the disorder. 

AFTER THE RACES 

If you have a training stable, after the horses 
return from the races in the fall a competent 
blacksmith should go over the campaigners. If 
there are any signs of contracted heels, the horse 
should be shod with springs. A cut of a spring 




now in common use is presented herewith. The 
first pair was made and used at Village Farm. 

132 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

THRUSH. 

Thrush is caused by not cleaning a horse's feet 
properly. A colt's feet, if not cleaned daily, 
should at least be attended to three times a week. 
The brood-mare's feet should be cleaned at least 
once a week, twice is better. 

If thrush is not cured, it will eat away the frog 
and the animal will probably go sore and lame, 
while the heels will contract. 

The quickest and surest way to cure thrush is 
to trim away the diseased portions of the foot and 
pour into each side of the frog and into the 
center of the foot a small quantity of what is 
commonly called butter of antimony. One appli- 
cation will cure. Powdered calomel is good, but 
has to be applied several times. 

Remember that thrush is caused by neglect and 
will never bother stock properly cared for. 

CARE OF TEETH 

Equally important as the care of the feet is the 
care of the teeth. A colt's teeth should.be first 
floated with a fine file, when the colt is from five 
to eight months old. 

When the teeth are shedding if the caps do not 
come off I would assist nature by using forceps, 
or you may call your veterinarian. Also watch 
the colts when their molars are shedding, as it 
sometimes leaves them in bad condition, indicated 
by tucked-up flanks and a ruffled coat. 

From the time a horse is four years old its teeth 

*33 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

should be dressed by a competent man every year. 
I prefer to have this done in November or in 
December. 

All horses on the farm should be attended to. 
It will keep them in better health and cause them 
to live longer. 

An important time to examine a colt's teeth 
is just before he is to be broken to harness. Often 
uneven teeth cause the colt to carry its head side- 
ways, or they will cut its cheek and make the colt 
nervous and irritable. 



i34 



Chapter Eleven 

SOME AILMENTS AND DISORDERS 

Treatment of Barren Mares. — Sweat-box. — Treatment for 
Pneumonia. — Distemper. — When Stallions are Dull. — Mas- 
turbation. — Navel Trouble. — Diarrhea. 

JUST a word of introduction to the final 
chapter, wherein I will mention my methods 
of treating certain sicknesses, disorders, etc. 
I will make no attempt to write a chapter on 
" Every Horseman His Own Doctor,' ' but will 
merely record my methods of treatment (some 
original) in certain cases where I have had good 
success. I might mention here that I think 
Humphrey's Veterinary Manual should be in 
every stable. A few of the medicine firms whose 
goods I have used and can conscientiously recom- 
mend, have been allowed to take advertising space 
in the back of this book. 

TREATMENT OF BARREN MARES. 

My treatment of barren mares has been exten- 
sive and successful, and while on Village Farm a 
large number of mares were shipped to me for 
treatment from all parts of the country. 

One of my " star " cases was Lady Bunker, the 
dam of Guy Wilkes (2.15^). She had been bar- 
ren for seven years and had been treated by 

135 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

competent veterinarians in Kentucky before being 
shipped to me. After undergoing my treatment 
she was gotten in foal at the first service, and pro- 
duced three foals, one of them being Welcome 
Bunker, the dam of Cheery Lass (2.03%) and 
King Direct (2.05 J4)- Another " star " case was 
Gleam, the dam of Rex Americus (2.11J4). She 
had not produced for two years and had been 
given up as barren, but succumbed to first 
treatment. 

My first step in treating a barren mare is to get 
her in the best possible physical condition. In 
order to purify the blood I give Humphrey's Spe- 
cific II and JK from three to five times a day, 
alternating specifics day by day for from two to 
three weeks before commencing treatment. 

Mares are usually barren for two reasons : (1) 
because of contracted womb, the mouth of which 
is often nearly closed, and (2) because of leucor- 
rhea, or what is commonly called " whites," when 
the womb is in a loose, flabby condition. The 
latter condition is hardest to treat in order to get 
the mare in proper condition to breed. 

To determine the condition of the womb, a spec- 
ulum should be used. If some one experienced in 
the use of the same is not at hand, the assistance 
of a veterinarian should be sought. 

If, on examination, you find the womb closed, 
insert an Eureka Pregnator into the mouth of the 
womb, leaving it there for from twenty-four to 
thirty-six hours. After removing it, wash out 
the mare with warm distilled water, to every three 

136 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

pints of which one ounce of creoline has been thor- 
oughly mixed. Breed the mare at once. 

In case the womb is discovered to be loose and 
flabby, wait till the mare comes in season and 
wash out the womb in the morning with warm 
distilled water, to every two quarts of which has 
been added one drachm of sulphate of zinc. In 
the evening wash out the womb with two quarts 
of water to which has been added two tablespoon- 
fuls of a solution of permanganate-potash. Use 
a force pump with the wash. Continue this wash- 
ing every day while the mare is in season. Then 
let her run eighteen or twenty-one days. When 
in season again, continue the washing. When she 
comes in season the third time examine the womb 
and if it is apparently in perfect condition breed 
the mare. If not, continue the washing till it is. 
I have never failed in following this method. 

SWEAT-BOX TREATMENT FOR PNEUMONIA. 

As a rule the first symptoms of pneumonia and 
pleurisy are a chill, after which the temperature 
(which at normal is between ninety-nine degrees 
and one hundred degrees) runs up to one hundred 
and two degrees or higher. Sometimes there is a 
short cough. The animal is dull, the skin is hot 
but the legs remain cold. Usually the animal is 
in such pain it grunts when turning around in the 
stall, or when one presses against its side back of 
the forearm. 

If the case is taken in hand just as soon as the 
chill is noticed and Humphrey's Specific AA be 

J 37 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

given according to directions, the disease may be 
warded off. But if it progresses and fever sets in 
put the horse into a sweat-box. 

There should be one of these on every stock 
farm. The sweat-box is a stall sixteen by twenty 
feet, and eight feet high, double sealed with tar 
paper, made perfectly tight. There should be a 
ventilator in the center of the ceiling to regulate 
the temperature and two windows on each side 
of the stall which may be let down from the top. 
In one corner of the stall, with a heavy bar around 
it, place a large heavy stove, which will burn hard 
wood or soft coal. The floor on which the stove 
sets and the walls about it should be covered with 
zinc. 

When a horse is taken with pneumonia start the 
sweat-box fire and run the temperature of the 
room up to one hundred and twenty degrees or 
one hundred and thirty degrees, or even one hun- 
dred and forty degrees. Lead the horse in and 
tie it up. Have an attendant to care for the 
horse and keep the fire going. The average man 
will not be able to remain with the horse all the 
time it is in the sweat-box, and it will usually be 
necessary to have two attendants, who will relieve 
each other every fifteen minutes or half an hour. 

Give the horse all the cold water it will drink. 
In the course of half an hour the horse will com- 
mence to sweat. Wait till the sweat begins to 
run down his legs and drop on the floor and then 
scrape the horse as you would a trotter that has 
just finished a stiff mile on a warm summer's day. 

138 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

After this, open the ventilator so that the warm 
air will escape gradually. Let the fire die down. 
The attendants should rub the horse down and 
do him up as they would a race-horse. This treat- 
ment will take from two and one-half to three 
hours when the temperature of the room should 
be down to about fifty-five degrees or sixty degrees. 
When the horse is ready to blanket, and before 
doing so, take some of Dr. John Aldrich's Lung 
Salve (it is manufactured in Bath, N. Y.) and rub 
it on each side of the horse over the lungs, or just 
back of the forearms. Rub the salve in thor- 
oughly and then smooth the hair down. Also rub 
some of the salve around the horse's throat. 
After this blanket the horse. Put a good woolen 
sweat blanket next to the body and a body blan- 
ket and hood over this, then take the animal to a 
stall in which the temperature is around fifty 
degrees or fifty-five degrees. See that this stall is 
well ventilated, but without drafts, and that the 
horse has plenty of fresh air to breathe. Give it 
all the fresh cold water it will drink. 

From now on give Humphrey's Specific AA 
according to directions until the fever goes down. 
In case there is coughing, give AA and EE, alter- 
nately, every two hours. 

I have never had a case of pneumonia, taken in 
time, that was not cured with this treatment. In 
one case the horse's fever went to one hundred 
and seven degrees, although one hundred and four 
degrees is usually considered dangerous. Usu- 
ally in forty-eight hours the horse's temperature 

139 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

will be normal, and the animal ready for use, but 
care should be exercised for a week or two to see 
that the horse is not subjected to sudden changes 
in temperature. 

DISTEMPER. 

All young horses are subject to distemper some- 
time during their lives, but generally between one 
and three years of age. Distemper often breaks 
out in the fall of the year when the colts are run- 
ning out on cold nights or during rainy weather. 
Many colts get the disease in the spring. A horse 
has distemper but once in a lifetime. 

The most positive first symptom of the disease, 
outside of a general depression, is the swelling of 
the glands under the jaw. This takes the form of 
a kernel, or tumor, which is very sensitive to the 
touch. 

If the colts are running out take them in imme- 
diately and confine them in separate stalls as the 
disease is contagious. Place the sick colt in an 
isolated stall. Try to head off the disease by 
using alternately Humphrey's Specifics AA and 
CC, and thoroughly anoint the swollen parts with 
the following ointment, clipping the hair away, 
if necessary : lard, two pounds ; tobacco, one- 
quarter of a pound; spirits of turpentine, one- 
quarter of a pint; tincture lobelia, two ounces; 
camphor, two ounces. After mixing the ointment 
place it on a slow fire and let it simmer a while. 
Stir it constantly. After the ointment is thor- 
oughly mixed take it off the fire and stir till cold. 

140 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

As a rule the colt's temperature will run up to 
from one hundred and two degrees to one hundred 
and four degrees. If you cannot head off the dis- 
ease and the swelling increases prepare a flax- 
seed poultice about as hot as you can mix with 
bare hands and apply to under jaw with an eight- 




tailed bandage, as shown in cut. Change the 
poultice every two or three hours. When the 
pus of the swelling comes to a head, it will prob- 
ably break of its own accord. If not, use a lance 
to open the swelling and let pus out. 

After this, drop the use of Specifics AA and CC 
and use Humphrey's Specifics II and JK alter- 
nately for two or three weeks to get the colt in 
good condition. During the disease and con- 
valescence, the use of International Stock Food 
will be found strengthening and beneficial, acting 
as a tonic. 



INTERNATIONAL STOCK FOOD. 

Speaking of International Stock Food, I wish 
to state that I have fed a great deal of it to horses 
of all ages and find it beneficial in aiding the 

141 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 

digestion and assimilation of food and in strength- 
ening the entire system. It gives horses brighter 
coats and better appetites. It makes brood- 
mares and stallions surer foal-getters and, in my 
opinion, will cause them to produce stronger foals. 

WHEN STALLIONS ARE DULL. 

When stallions are dull and not very anxious 
to cover mares, give them shorter, quicker jog 
work and a drachm of nux vomica and a drachm 
of iron, separately, once or twice a day, and Inter- 
national Stock Food twice per day. 

MASTURBATION. 

When stallions masturbate or abuse themselves 
give them one or two drachms of gum camphor 
every day or, better still, Humphrey's Special 
Specific LL. 

NAVEL TROUBLE. 

If a foal has navel trouble, lay it on its side, 
with two helpers to hold its head and hind legs. 
Take a catheter, with bulb syringe attachment, 
and pass it up the navel cord, injecting a solution 
of one-quarter ounce of creoline and two ounces 
of warm sterilized water. The navel channel 
divides one channel running to each kidney. 
Insert the catheter as far as you can make an 
opening without forcing. Make an injection in 
each channel. The injection will prove healing 
and soothing and should be continued till the 
navel is healed up and closed. After making the 
first injection the colt should be given Humphrey's 

142 



BREEDING THE TROTTER 



Specifics AA and II, alternately, twice a day for 
the first four or five days till a cure is effected. 

During this trouble pus is liable to form around 
the knees or hock or even abdomen. I do not 
advise lancing. Nature will remove the foreign 
matter. 

DIARRHEA. 

The blackberry cordial previously mentioned 
for diarrhea is made as follows : 

Take one-half bushel of fresh blackberry roots, 
washed clean and cut up into sticks about four 
inches long; to this add one-quarter pound of 
cinnamon, one-quarter pound of cloves, one- 
quarter pound of allspice. These spices must be 
whole. Put on to boil in either granite or porce- 
lain kettles, with enough water to just cover the 
contents. Boil for two hours, then strain and 
add five pounds of loaf sugar and boil to a syrup. 
Then add one quart of the best brandy. Bottle 
up in jugs or bottles. I prefer quart bottles. 
This should make one and one-half gallons. 

The dose for colts from three days to a week old 
is one-half ounce three times a day, or oftener, 
if necessary. This treatment should stop the 
trouble in from one to two days. Colts older than 
a month should have double the above dose. 

I might mention that this remedy is very effi- 
cient for humans, the dose for children from six 
months to a year being from twenty-five drops 
to half a teaspoonful every three hours until 
relieved, then stretch the doses farther apart till 
well. 

143 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 

Page 

Advertising and Catalogues 127 

Age at which to Sell, The Best 115 

Ailments and Disorders, Some 135 

Almonarch 67 

Almont Jr 32, 66 

Athanio 38 

Bandage, Head 141 

Bandages and Washes, Uses of 112 

Barn, Main 57 

Barn, Plan of First Floor 60 

Barn, Plan of Front Elevation 59 

Barn, Plan of One-Half Cross Section 61 

Barn, Plan of Side Elevation 61 

Barren Mares, Treatment of 135 

Beauty and Speed 41 

Betting System, A 17 

Blood Lines 69 

Breaking to Bit 103 

Breeding Pen 78, 79, 81 

Breeding Records 127 

Breeding the Mare 90 

Brood- Mare, Importance of 40 

Brood-Mare, My First 3 

Brood-Mares, Selecting 45 

Brood-Mare Sheds 62 

Brood-Mare, The 83 

Brood-Mare, Care of 85, 86 

Buffalo, Back to 15 

Buffalo, On to 12 

Business Principles 119 

Cart, Hooking to : . . 105 

Catalogue, The First 39 

Challenge, A 43 

Chimes 36 

Colts, Young 130 

Concrete Examples — Almont Jr 66 

Corns 131 

Covering the Mare 78 

Culls 117 

" Derricked " 13 

Developed Mares, Age at which to Breed 94 

Developing, Method of 107 

Diarrhea 143 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 

Page 

Diet, Mare on Winter 94 

Direct Hal 38 

Distemper 140 

" Dr. Green " 107 

Estabella 31 

Failures, Causes of 128 

Farmer, A Full-Fledged 8 

Farm, Size of 51 

Farm Superintendent, The 64 

Feeding 77, 108 

Feet and Teeth, Care of the 130 

Feet, Care of 130 

Feet, Packing of 112 

Fencing 56 

Foal, Preparing for the 87 

Futurity Candidate, A 107 

Golddust 24 

Golden Gateway 38 

Grooms 126 

Ground- Breaking 104 

Halter-Breaking 101 

Hambletonian, Mare Not Covered by 6 

Hamlin, Mr., First Mare of 23 

Hamlin, Mr., First Team of 24 

Hamlin, Mr., Theory of Breeding 40 

Hamlin Patchen 23 

" Handsomest Horse in the World, The " 33 

Hoof, The Perfect 131 

Horse, My First 2 

Horses, Aged 113 

Hotel Keeper and Public Trainer, A 9 

Ice Racing 12 

Ideal Brood-Mare, The 84 

Ideal Stock Farm 20 

Ideal Stock Farm Track 54 

Impressions, First 98 

Inbreeding 96 

Incidentals 118 

International Stock Food 141 

Jane Brown 3 

Land, Acres of, per Head 51 

Lead Pony, Beside the 103 

Liveryman, A 10 

Location 49 

Mambrino King 32 

Mare and Colt after Foaling, Care of '. hs 

Mare and Colt in Pasture, Care of 91 

Mares, Best Way to Purchase 83 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 

Fage 

Masturbation 142 

Mate, Selecting a 97 

Mermaid and Dictator Maid 25 

Minnequa Maid 27 

Mtiscles and Speed, Developing 106 

Natural Speed, Importance of 99 

Navel Trouble 142 

Nettie Murphy 27 

Paddocks 56 

Paddocks, Water in 58 

Pedigree 85 

Pelham Tartar Jr 4 

Personal 1 

Pneumonia, Sweat-Box Treatment for 137 

Prediction, A 45 

Premier, Purchasing a 28, 65 

Purchases, More 29 

Race, My First 10 

Race-Track, First Day on a 6 

Races, After the 132 

Revenue, Sources of 127 

Rex Americus 38 

Ring-Bone 132 

Roading It 10 

Sales and the Show Rings, Preparing for the 115 

Sales, Preparing for 116 

Shoeing 105 

Show Horses 117 

Shows, Preparing for. 117 

Sires, Developed 42 

Sires, Over-Developed 66 

Soil 50 

Speed, Natural 69 

Spring, Cut of 132 

Stables . . . 57 

Stallion, Care of 76 

Stallion, Mv First 5 

Stallion, My Ideal . 73 

Stallion, Shall He Be Raced? 74 

Stallion, The 65 

Stallion's Dam, The 71 

Stallion's Individuality, The 71 

Stallion's Sire, The 70 

Stallions, When Dull 142 

Stock Farm, Founding a 49 

Stock Farm, Management of a 119 

Stud Book, Ideal Form of 81, 82 

Stud Season, The 75 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 

Page 

Superintendent, The 120 

Teeth, Care of 133 

Three-Card Monte 7 

Thrush 133 

Track, Cinder, The 56 

Track, The 53 

Tracks, Rules for Laying Out 53 

Trainer, The 124 

Trainer, Turning Over to a Ill 

Trial Sheet 80 

Trial Sheet and Stud Book, The 81 

Trotter vs. Pacer 74 

Trotting Nursery, World's Greatest 21 

Two- Year-Old and Older, The 109 

Village Farm Graduates 18 

Village Farm, Superintendent at 17 

Village Farm Theory of Breeding 21 

Village Farm, The Passing of 45 

Waste, Sources of 1 28 

Water 50 

Weaning the Colt 93 

Weanling and Yearling, The 101 

Weeding Out 26 

" Who Is He?" 1 

Woful 25 

Work, Spring 110 

Work, Summer Ill 

Work, Winter 109 

Yearling, The 106 





AMERICAN 
TROTTER^ 

By S. W. PARLIN 

Editor of American Horse Breeder 

A volume of 320 pages treating of the 
origin, history and development of the 
trotter and pacer, with full page engravings 
of notable horses, past and present. 

"A book that should be in the hands of 
every brood-mare owner/' 

— John Bradburn. 

PRICE TWO DOLLARS 

Sent postage paid to any address in the 
United States or Canada. Address 

cAmerican Horse Breeder 

161 High Street, Boston, Mass. 



DR. J. O. ALDRICH'S 

LUNG SALVE 

FOR MAN OR BEAST 

In animals will prevent and cure pneumonia, congestion of lungs, inflam- 
mation of bowels and kidneys, strangles, cut or bruised quarters, cracked 
heels, wounds, tetanus (from nail in foot). Prevents and will remove fungus 
flesh from wounds. Will soften hardened and contracted feet. 
DIRECTIONS FOR ANIMALS. 

In case of pneumonia or congestion of lungs in horses, warm some salve 
and rub in hair over breast and lungs; then spread cloth well with the salve 
large enough to cover entire lung surface. Cover this with table oil-cloth 
to exclude air, and apply hot, dry applications to heat salve in. Blanket 
the horse well and keep in warm place, but with plenty of fresh air. Apply 
in same manner for inflammation of bowels or kidneys. In soreness or 
swelling of throat apply thoroughly and bandage. Respread cloth as the 
salve becomes absorbed. "Will not blister nor remove hair. In case of nail 
in the foot or any punctured wound, remove shoe and open the wound enough 
to secure free drainage, then spread cloth thick with salve large enough 
to cover entire foot and fasten it on. This will relieve the inflammation, 
soften the hoof and prevent any further trouble. 

Price per can $5.00. If not kept in stock by your 
druggist, it can be obtained from 

J. 0. ALDEICH MFG. CO., Bath, Steukn County, N. Y. 



cAmerican 
Horse Breeder 

The newsiest, best illustrated, ablest 
edited horse paper published. 

Subscription price $2.00 per year in 
advance. $1.00 for six months. 

Sample copies sent on application. 
Address 

cAmerican Horse Breeder 

161 High Street, Boston, Mass. 




HUMPH RE YS' 

Veterinary Specifics 

That the diseases of domestic animals — horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, hogs 
and poultry — are cured by Humphrey's Homeopathic Veterinary Specifics is 
as true as that people ride on railroads, send messages by telegraph, or sew 
with sewing machines. It is as irrational to bottle, ball, and bleed animals 
in order to cure them as it is to take passage in a sloop from New York to 
Albany, or to send your letter in a stage coach from Buffalo to Boston. 

A A Cures Fevers, Congestions and Inflammations, as of the Lungs 
i\»x\* or pi eura (Pleuro-pneumonia) ; Inflammation of the Head or 
Brain, Eyes, or of the Liver or Belly; Sore Throat or Quinsy; 
Blind or Belly Staggers, or Convulsions; Hot Skin; Quick 
Pulse; Chill or Panting; Milk Fever in Cows; Spinal Menin- 
gitis in Horses. 
"R B Cures Diseases of the Tendons, Ligaments or Joints; Founder, 
u.j->. Curb, Spavin, Strains, Stiffness, Lameness, Rheumatism, 

Splint, Stifle. 
p p Cures Diseases of the Glands, Epizootic, Distemper in Horses 
V/«Vs* or Sheep; Nasal Gleet; Farcy and Glanders; Discharges from 
the Nose; Farcy Buds; Swelled Glands; Scab in Sheep; Dis- 
temper in Dogs. 
T\ T\ Cures Worm Diseases and eradicates them from the system; 
1J ** J * either Bots or Grubs, Long, Round, Pin, or Tape-worm, Colic 

or Emaciation from Worms. 
"P "C* Cures Diseases of the Air Passages; Cough, Influenza, Heaves, 
±i/»i^. Broken Wind or Whistles, Thick Wind, Inflamed Lungs or 
Pleura (Pleuro-pneumonia), with quick, panting, hard or 
difficult Breathing. 
"P TJ* Cures Colic, Spasmodic Wind, or Inflammatory Colic; Belly- 
r • * • ache, Gripes, Hoven or Wind-Blown; Diarrhoea or Dysentery; 

Liquid or Bloody Dung. 
f}. £}. Prevents Miscarriage, Casting of Foal or Calf, arrests Hemor- 
vx-vr# rhages; throws off the After-birth; cures Sterility or Barren- 
ness and Self Abuse. 
XT TT Cures Diseases of the Kidneys, Bladder or Urinary Passages, 
■"»•■"■• as Inflammation, or scanty, difficult, painful, suppressed or 
bloody Urination; Kidney Colic. 
T T Cures Cutaneous Diseases or Eruptions, Mange, Farcy, Grease, 
±.A. Thrush, Erysipelas, Swellings, Abscesses, Fistulas, Ulcers, 
Unhealthy Skin, Rough Coat. 

Cures Diseases of Digestion, Out of Condition, and "Off his 
Feed"; Results of Over- Feed, Jaundice or Yellows; 111 Con- 
formerly dition, Staring Coat; also Paralysis, Stomach Staggers, Brittle 
J. J. Hoofs, Impotency in Stallions. 



J.K. 



60 cents each; Stable Case, Ten Specifics, Books, etc., $7.00 
At druggists, or sent prepaid on receipt of price 

HUMPHREYS* MEDICINE CO. 

Corner William and John Streets, &> New York City 
BOOK MAILED FREE 



A Few Cold Facts About 

Becker £? Wickser 
Co/s Harness Jkik 




1. They are made of the very best leather obtainable and with 
workmanship. 

2. It has always been the aim of Becker & Wickser Co. to add all the 
latest improvements in harness and keep them strictly up to date. 

3. You pay Becker & Wickser Co. no more to have your harness stylish 
and up to date than you are paying now. 

4. The steady increase in their business each year shows their efforts 
are appreciated. 

5. Becker & Wickser Co. are sole selling agents for nearly all of the lead- 
ing remedies on the market, and carry the largest and most cohiplete line 
of horse and stable equipment in Western New York. 

6. Becker & Wickser Co. are manufacturers and selling agents for the 
McDonald Rubber Bell Quarter Boots, the best bell quarter boot on the 
market, recommended and used by nearly all the leading trainers. Will 
not chafe and are particularly adapted for use on the snow. 

7. Becker & Wickser Co. invite correspondence and their office is at the 
disposal of many out-of-town friends and others who desire to take advan- 
tage of it. 

BECKER & WICKSER CO. 
9 and 1 1 Court Street, Buffalo, N. Y. 




The Fastest Harness Horse 

The World Has Ever Seen. 



Dan Patch has eaten "Interna- 
tional Stock Food" every day since 
1902. Within 3 years after com- 
mencing to eat it he broke 12 
world records. "International Stock 
Food" will give your horses more 
speed, strength and endurance. 
250,000 People at 4 Exhibitions. 

Dan Patch has paced 36 miles in 
2:01%tol:55# and has paced 9 
miles that averaged 1:57^. Dan 
paced 6 miles in 1905 that aver- 
aged 1:58. Within 30 davs in the 
fall of 1905 Dan Drew 250,000 peo- 
ple in 4 exhibitions. This Tre- 
mendous Attendance of 250,000 
people for four exhibitions has 
never been equalled or even ap- 
proached in all harness horse his- 
tory. Dan Patch broke 4 World 
Records and the Canadian half- 
mile track record, traveled 6000 
miles in 66 days and finished the 
season strong, vigorous and ab- 
solutely sound. 



The Greatest Exhibition Record Ever Made 
By a Harness Horse. 

Exhibition Miles Paced By Dan Patch in 6& Days 
Commencing in Sept. 19U3. 

1st Mile - -1:5914 

2nd Mile - - 1:57^ 

3rd Mile, unpaced - 2:00^ 
4th Mile,half-miletrack 2:01 
5th Mile, half-mile track 

to wagon - 2:05 

6th Mile, half-mile track 2:01^ 
7th Mile - - 1:56 

8th Mile - - 1:55 X 

9th Mile, unpaced - 1 :59X 
10th Mile, y* mile track at 
Toronto , cold, track heavy 2 1 06 
11th Mile, unpaced - 2:00 
12th Mile, unpaced 1 :59X 

13th Mile, unpaced - 2:00 
14th Mile, unpaced 1:58 



DAI 



PATCI 



EATS 



B^3 FEEDS 



ONE CENT.^s 



BEAUTIFUL LITHOGRAPH FREE. A handsome six color lithograph of the world famous 
pacing champion, Dan Patch 1 :f>5^, mailed free, postage paid, if you state how many horses ><>u 
own or care for. It is very life-like and an exact illustration of Dan pacing at his fasttst clip. 

INTERNATIONAL STOCK FOOD CO., MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., U. S. A- 






S. H. KNOX DANIEL Cool) 

PRIVATE STALLIONS 
gf We Ideal Stock Farm 

Prince Ideal 

TROTTER 

Chestnut horse, foaled 1901. 

Trial as a three-year-old, 2.15 J^, last half 1.06, last 

quarter 32 seconds. 

Sired by The Beau Ideal (2.15%), son of Dare Devil (2.09) 

and Nettie King (2.20%), dam of The Abbot (2.03%). 

Dam, Future Princess, by Chimes. 

Second dam, Estabella (dam of Heir-at-Law, 2.05%, 

etc.), by Alcantara (2.23). 

Lord Direct 

PACER 

Chestnut horse, foaled 1901. 

Trial, as a three-year-old, 2.11, last half 1.04%, last 

quarter 30% seconds. 

Sired by Direct Hal (2.04%), unbeaten son of Direct 

(2.05^). 

Dam, Lady of the Manor (2.04%), former world's 

champion pacing mare, by Mambrino King. 

Second dam, Princess Chimes, by Chimes. 

Third dam, Estabella, by Alcantara (2.23). 

IDEAL STOCK FARM 

EAST AURORA, N. Y. 

JOHN BRADBURN, Superintendent 



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